How To Convey Meaning In A Poem

How To Convey Meaning In A Poem

How do I convey meaning in a poem?

Meaning comes to us in poems through several different levels. We always think of words as referring to things, so that's if you like the semantic level, but there's a musical level with poems. That's to say they're rhythms, and the sounds you're making, like alliteration, assonance, and rhyme. Also if you repeat things, you imply meanings. So, for example, if you just said "Rain raining, rain raining, rain raining," you're suggesting it's raining for a long time. Also if you frame a poem you suggest that there's some kind of continuity from the way you opened the poem and the fact that you've repeated it at the end of a poem. You can create pauses, you can hurry things up and you can slow them down. You can introduce jazz and syncopation to suggest some modernity. Poems have a whole musical frame that also conveys meaning.