Excellent Poem Summary Generator & Poetry Analysis Tips [Free] (2024)

If you're dealing with poetry, you may face problems trying to understand its meaning. Realizing and analyzing these aspects can be vital, especially if you're not reading in your leisure time but to complete an assignment for school or college. So, how do you understand a poem? We have a solution! Our poem summary generator will cut down any rhythmical literary piece, regardless of its form and structure.

When it comes to poem analysis, our generator can be essential for exploring the literary piece in question. A short summary helps to consider its meaning without being distracted by the form or stylistic devices. In that case, you're basically analyzing prose, which allows you to look at the plot and ideas as they are. After that, you can proceed to examine the poem as a whole.

Our team has provided tips on analyzing poetry and listed its types in the article below. All these recommendations can be useful after you employ our poem summarizer!

📜 Poetry Types That You Should Know

There is a significant number of poems that you may encounter during your studies. All of them have their literary techniques and use different stylistic devices.

Below, we have explained the types you will likely receive as a poetry analysis assignment.

Sonnets

The sonnet is an old poetic form originating in 13th century Italy. William Shakespeare largely popularized it during the Elizabethan age. Thus, two distinct rhyme schemes have emerged – the Italian and the Shakespearean. However, all sonnets have fourteen lines and usually follow the iambic pentameter.

Shakespeare wrote 154 poems in this format. His Sonnet 18 (also known by its opening lines, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?) is broadly recognized. You can examine its meaning by reading this sample.

Epics

An epic poem, also known simply as an epic, is a lengthy story. It typically tells the tale of a hero set out on an adventure. Traditionally, epics have been narrated orally and depended on the poet’s tone to instill a sense of drama.

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are two of the oldest and most famous examples of epic poetry.

Haikus

This type of poetry stems from 17th century Japan. It concentrates on the beauty of nature and quiet moments in life. Haikus have a fairly strict organization, as each piece should have only seventeen syllables in total. The sentences are arranged in three lines, following a 5/7/5 structure. However, as time went on, writers have often broken this formula.

One of the most recognized haikus in the West is An Old Silent Pond by Matsuo Bashō, a famous poet from the Edo period.

Acrostics

Acrostics take on a very particular form. Put together, the first letters in each line of the poem spell out a name or a word. Poets use this method to subtly describe someone or something significant to them.

To illustrate, we can take the first letters of each line of An Acrostic by Edgar Allan Poe. The result will spell out ELIZABETH.

Ballads

Like epics, ballads tell stories, often following the oral tradition. However, what distinguishes this type of poetry is that it may take the form of a song. Also, ballads are commonly based on a folk tale or legend.

Sir Patrick Spens is a famous Scottish poem written by an unknown author. Several versions of it exist in the world, some having a happy ending and some a tragic one.

Visual Poems

Also known as concrete or shape, visual poetry has many names. However, its idea is simple: such poems look a particular way on the page. The words and lines are shaped to form a specific image that reflects the text’s meaning. For example, a poem about the winter holidays might be arranged to resemble a Christmas tree.

The 17th-century poet George Herbert had to print his Easter Wings sideways on two pages. When looked at side-by-side, the wings become evident to the viewer. You can read its analysis in this essay.

Free Verse Poems

Free verse poetry is a bit infamous in the literary circles for being unpredictable and irregular. It doesn’t follow a rhyme scheme and has no set patterns or rhythm. However, it is still poetry and not prose. The text can be about anything, from a ball on the Titanic to your mother’s favorite dinnerware. In a way, the poet and the audience have to work together to connect the written words.

T. S. Elliot composed a widely renowned free verse poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, often called the first Modernist literary piece.

Even if we can’t provide a poem analysis, our generator can easily shorten any type of poetry you read.

💡 How to Analyze a Poem: Key Tips

The poem to summary converter above can condense any literary work so that you can understand it easier. However, its detailed analysis is still up to you.

Over here, we have offered some advice on how to analyze a poem:

• Decode the meaning and storyline. Place yourself in the poet’s shoes and try to view the words from their perspective. Narratively speaking, what do you think happens? Read through the poem carefully and find the lines that truly bring out its meaning.
• Examine the rhyme scheme. Usually, it is pretty obvious if a poem has one or not. We typically assign a letter to each line to map out a rhyme scheme. Lines that rhyme have the same letter assigned to them, e.g., ABAB, CDCD, etc.
• Look out for imagery. Poets usually enjoy painting vivid pictures with their words. Find colorful images and analyze what kind of a feeling they evoke in you.
• Consider themes and symbols. Many of them can be hidden even in simple poems. Themes relate directly to symbols, and symbols relate to the imagery. For example, if the author talks about a skull, the object likely represents death.
• Analyze the poem’s structure. The plot, literary devices, and stanzas aren’t the only noteworthy things. Pay close attention to the way the poem is organized on the page. The placement of the line breaks, number of words, and overall composition can significantly contribute to the author’s intention.
• Study the language. The choice of words in a poem is always deliberate. Each phrase may carry significance. Consider how the author plays with the language using different devices, such as similes and metaphors.
• Realize who the narrator is. Think about who is telling the story and how they’re doing so. Does the poet use a first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective? Remember, the author doesn’t necessarily have to be the narrator of the unfolding events.

We hope that you have learned something new from our article. Now, feel free to use our poem summarizer. This convenient online tool will considerably speed up your work process!

🔗 References

• How to Analyze Poetry: 10 Steps for Analyzing a Poem – MasterClass
• Analyzing Poetry – University Writing Center (UWC), Texas A&M University
• 9 Different Types Of Poems – Imogen Rayfield, Penguin Random House
• Types of Poetry – The Writing Center. Pasco-Hernando State College