How to Annotate a Poem We annotate texts and poems in order to understand them.

An annotation requires many readings of the poem. You must make time to seriously consider each word and its place within the poem as a whole. What is the poet is saying through this particular speaker/persona? What is the natural progression of the poem? What is its purpose? What is the tone and style of the poem? I will be looking for serious consideration of the following elements: Structure of the poem which explains its progression along with the major turning points Language that denotes regionality, education of speaker, rhetorical purpose, etc. Is it conversational, colloquial or does the speaker fall back on formal language? This would include any literary devices. Tone: Is the poem celebratory, depressed, melancholy? Does it shift or change? Speaker/Persona: What does the poem reveal about the speaker? Imagery: What images does the poem use to create meaning or set the mood? Imagery: Which types of imagery are being used? How does it contribute to the overall theme/tone of the poem? Any other characteristics that are specific to your poemEvery poem is different. As you research, you will discover that particular poets are known for certain techniques or styles. If this poem follows that trend or veers from it is important to your understanding of the poem. Here are the different types of imagery:

Visual

Visual imagery is using descriptions to create a scene for the reader. An example of visual poetic imagery is the phrase "[t]o watch his woods fill up with snow" in the Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." With visual imagery, the writer provides a scene that the reader can picture.

Auditory

Auditory imagery is using a description to convey sounds to the reader. The phrase "[t]the falcon cannot hear the falconer" in the poem "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats is an example of auditory imagery.

Olfactory

Olfactory imagery describes a scent to the reader. The phrase "[a] scent of ripeness from over a wall" in the Robert Frost poem "Unharvested" is an example of olfactory imagery.

Tactile

Tactile imagery describes how something is perceived through the sense of touch, including warmth, cold, softness, hardness, dryness or wetness. An example is the description of Porphyria making "the cheerless grate / Blaze up, and all the cottage warm" in "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning.

Gustatory

Gustatory imagery refers to the description of how something tastes in a poem. For example, John Keats speaks of "hazel shells / With a sweet kernel" in a description of fruits and vegetables in his poem "To Autumn."

Organic

Organic imagery is a description of a physical sensation, such as hunger, thirst, pain or fatigue. An example is found in the lines, "My instep arch not only keeps the ache, / It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round" in Robert Frost's poem "After ApplePicking." These words convey to the reader the sensation of still being able to feel the ladder wrung on which he stood in his foot.

Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic imagery refers to movement or tension external to the speaker in the poem. In other words, it describes outside movement or tension rather than internal. A good example of this is found in "Porphyria's Lover": "The sullen wind was soon awake, / It tore the elm-tops down for spite, / And did its worst to vex the lake."

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