Poems are very important in our lives, but understanding what an author wanted to say is even more important. A poem for every day should be written with this consideration in mind.
A poem can be reviewed in different ways. Nevertheless, there are several rules you have to adhere to review a poem.
1. Writing technique
Here you should pay attention to rhyming and rhythm.
- Any poem that has rhyme, especially if the rhyme is beautiful and sudden, makes both reader and reviewer pleased. Highlight author’s threadbare rhymes and numerous verbal-inflection rhymes, which are very common among unfledged writers. Such rhymes are acceptable but having too many of them is bad.
- Reading a poem volubly and in one breath is not less important. Rhythm is a basis for prosody, and it makes poems different from prose. An entry-level reviewer would find it enough to calculate a number of syllables in rhyming lines. High-end reviewers will handle measures. The most experienced will consider a line, which is the most important independent rhythmic unit. The best thing to do is to cite the alternation of accented and unaccented syllables. If every line is divided to syllables, every flaw will be visible. Advise an author on how to change a line. Inversions can be used, but they don’t solve all problems. This will help to write a poem for every day with good quality.
2. Phraseology is the next important factor.
Usage of literary devices, tropes and figures of speech makes a poem better. And a reviewer of course must understand all these terms. Define whether an author uses pastiche, and if there are unsuitable words for this style.
3. A reviewer can point out mistakes in grammar, but it is better to resort to grammar professionals.
4. After stopping reviewing, try to understand what the main idea of a poem is, and why an author wrote it. Check whether a title corresponds with meaning, and if there is logic throughout the poem. Try to find strength of the poem, understand the character of an author, and compare his poem with poems of famous poets.