There’s a certain Slant of light by Emily Dickinson – Poem Analysis

Below, you’ll find part of an analysis of the poem ‘There’s a certain Slant of light’ by Emily Dickinson. Includes a breakdown of the stanzas, an insight into the speaker + voice of the poem, and an exploration of the themes and deeper meanings. This is only a quick overview to help you get to […]

Poem by Robert Frost ‘Into My Own’

Here’s a full poem ‘Into My Own’ by Robert Frost. If you’re interested in a full analysis of this poem, check out our links at the bottom of the page! Into My Own One of my wishes is that those dark trees, So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze, Were not, as ’twere, […]

Summary of Keats’ “The Eve of St Agnes”

There’s no way around it, ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ is a looooong poem! So, before you start trying to read it directly, make sure that you understand the overall story and main events. This will make the process of reading the stanzas so much easier, and prevent you from getting confused or lost! We’ve […]

Robert Frost: Essay Questions

Below, you’ll find a range of essay questions on Robert Frost and his poems. There are two types of questions: Comparative and Discursive. The comparative questions will ask you to compare two poems specifically, the discursive will ask you to ‘comment’ on or ‘discuss’ the poems without specifically requiring a comparison. I hope they’re useful! […]

How to Understand and Analyse a Poem

This is a process I developed myself when I was at university studying poems; I couldn’t understand nor analyse a poem, and it confused the heck out of me. I used to look at poems and feel completely lost like I didn’t even know where to start. So, I developed this system as a way […]

The Black Cottage by Robert Frost — Poem and Analysis

Below, you will find an analysis of ‘The Black Cottage’ by Robert Frost. This is such a complex and beautiful poem, it might be hard to understand at first but stick with it and you’ll find so many interesting ideas! I have to admit it confused me at first, but now I think it’s one […]

If by Rudyard Kipling — Poem Analysis

“If” by Rudyard Kipling is one of the most popular poems of the last century, and its inspirational messages hold true today as much as they did when it was written in 1910. Yet, it also feels outdated in some ways — should we really never embrace our extreme emotions and always try to be ‘fine’ […]

Parades, Parades by Derek Walcott – Poem Analysis

Below you’ll find a detailed analysis of ‘Parades, Parades’ by Derek Walcott. I’ve been teaching Derek Walcott’s poetry recently for the Cambridge / CIE A Level Literature course (9095). Despite trawling through search engines, I’ve found barely any analysis of it anywhere — which is a crying shame because his poetry is so good! And […]

Ebb by Derek Walcott — Poem Analysis

In his poem “Ebb”, that is a subject of this analysis, Walcott explores the complex interconnected relationship between humans and nature in this poem, and what happens when it gets out of balance. I think this is very much a poem for modern times, with our ever-increasing concerns about environmentalism and preservation of the natural […]

The Death Bed – Siegfried Sassoon Poem Analysis

The Death Bed poem, as shown in picture.

Sassoon is highly regarded as one of the greatest poets of the First World War; being a soldier himself, he offers a personal account of the horrors and traumas he experienced whilst fighting in War. ‘The Death Bed’ is a chilling poem about a soldier who’s slipping into death, and his final living moments on […]