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Look for metaphors, similes, and imagery in the poem. Analyze the figurative language in the poem. Read the first and last lines of the poem closely. Try to sum up the figurative meaning of the poem in a few sentences.

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To get more into the figurative meaning of the poem, you should look at how the poet uses literary devices like metaphor, simile, and imagery. These devices are often used to add deeper meaning to a line or word, as well as meaning to the poem as a whole.  A metaphor is when a subject uses another subject or object to create meaning. For example, if you were analyzing Emily Dickinson’s poem “Fame is a Fickle Food”, you may notice the poem uses the metaphor: “Fame is a fickle food/Upon a shifting plate.”  A simile compares two subjects or objects to each other using “as” or “like”. For example, in Langston Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the speaker uses a simile to describe themselves: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”  Imagery is used to create mental images or pictures in the reader’s mind. The poet may use metaphor, simile, and other literary devices to create strong imagery in the poem. For example, in “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, Whitman ends the poem with striking imagery about the songs of America that uses description, strong word choice, and action: “Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.” You can access the figurative meaning of the poem by considering how the poet uses figurative language. Figurative language could be words that are repeated often in the poem or words that rhyme in each stanza. Figurative language could also be a metaphor or simile that is repeated more than once or that is used to begin or end the poem.  For example, in “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, the word “singing” appears ten times in the poem. This is a good indication that it has figurative depth in the poem that is important and holds meaning.  In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Fame is a Fickle Food”, the word “fame” appears only once in the poem in the first line. But it is explored through the use of food imagery, indicating that food is a key figurative element in the poem, especially in relation to fame.  Pay special attention to nouns that stand out and seem to have special meaning. These words may be symbolic and figurative. You should also pay attention to how the poet opens and closes the poem, as these lines are often important. The poet may begin with a specific question in the first line that is then answered or addressed in the last line. The poet may also use the first line as a jumping off point, or a point of exploration that is then summed up in the last line of the poem.  For example, in Emily Dickinson’s poem “Fame is a Fickle Food”, the first line “Fame is a fickle food” acts as a sort of prompt or proposition. Dickinson then explores this first line in the rest of the poem and ends with a striking line, “Men eat of it and die.”  The last line in the poem sums up the first line of the poem by indicating what happens when you try to eat the fickle food of fame and try to enjoy fame. Dickinson suggests that eating fame leads to death, or a very unhappy end. Once you have considered the language use, the imagery, and specific key lines in the poem, you should try to write down the meaning of the poem from your point of view. You can paraphrase the poem in your own words or create a few sentences that sum up the figurative meaning of the poem. Answer the question, What is the poem trying to say? or What was my experience of reading and analyzing the poem?  For example, you may paraphrase or sum up Langston Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by focusing on how “the negro” speaker uses rivers to communicate and exist.  You may paraphrase the poem as being about how the figure of the negro is connected to the natural world and to the history of man through rivers. You may note that Hughes seems to indicate that the negro has a soul that is deep, wide, and bountiful, an essential part of nature that cannot be segregated based on skin tone or race. Keep in mind there is no one right way to interpret a poem or understand it more deeply. If you have your own specific take on the poem, you should use evidence in the poem to support your interpretation and explore it more fully.