Other People’s Poems –
Close Readings, Analyses and Commentaries
The saying goes, if you want to know the time, look at the clock’s face. If you want to know about clocks, you have to take the back off.
The commentaries below are not offered as definitive readings – a good poem will always have more than one ‘meaning’. Rather, these are offered as part of an ongoing conversation about poems that have intrigued me. As poets, we have galleries of muses and teachers on our bookshelves, waiting on our pleasure. Every poem can teach us something, even if only what not to do.
We just have to ask.
Commentaries
- A Few Ways to help you get started.
- The Tuning Spiral – Pascale Petit’s Mirador.
- The Other/Self – Imtiaz Dhaker’s Its Face.
Other Writers on Close Reading:
- British poet Nick Laird
Copyright:
I have assumed that reproducing the poems here falls under the heading of ‘fair use for personal study, review or criticism’.
If you are the author or publisher of these poems and disagree with this, please email me and I will remove them.
Readers, please do not copy the poems from here – buy (or borrow) the books. If you want to copy the commentaries, please contact me for permission first.
It is so brave of you to do this. But that courage is obviously an integral part of what you do. There is a real shortage of meaningful commentary (love the word choice too, by the way) anywhere at the moment. On the net or in books and journals. Lots of waffle though. I really look forward to your perspective.
Thank you. I don’t really think of it as brave though – reviewing needs bravery, but this is the fun part of it all – getting my brain revved up.
Anyhow, I hope you find the commentaries interesting!