How to Identify the Theme of a Poem

Most of the literature works be it a poem, stories are built upon a specific objective to provide an information or message to the audience. These messages may be either universal truth or may be related to cultural observations, human behavior, etc. Pretty often the message which we refer here as “theme” that the writer wants to convey is visible explicitly and at other times the message is conveyed implicitly. Our job becomes a challenge to identify the theme if it is implicit. To identify the theme in such cases let us follow the below steps:

•    The first and foremost step is to analyze by reading carefully and making observations, which can be agreed upon by others. These observations are third person accounts in nature which speaks of what is being done by whom in the poem. Also, this gives an idea of where and when he is doing the action. You will find some repetitive words being used pretty often in the poem, which might symbolize that writer, is trying to express something by putting stress on those repetitive words.

•    The next thing is to connect all the pieces together and it will definitely give a clear picture of what is being said or the theme of the poem. Since we have the subject, we can decipher the actions taken by subject under some circumstances. Yes to some extent we might have to be imaginary or logically visualize the story being depicted to connect the dots and finally arrive at the theme of the poem.

•    One more key to successfully identify the theme is to read the poem repeatedly, slowly, repeatedly as each reading will give an extra dimension to your imagination on the context. Remember that a poem may not always have a single theme. They are mostly used to share a feeling or experience or an idea which can be multidimensional too.