. What is the poem about? Begin your critique by explaining what you think is the main point or feeling or felt idea in the poem. Try to phrase this in your own words, not in words borrowed from the poem. 2. What is actually happening in the poem? Is the situation clear? What are the people in it doing? Where is the poem located and when does it take place? 3. Is the speaker identifiable? Does the speaker have an attitude? If yes, what? What tone of voice do you hear? (Joy, anger, dread, sadness, amusement, cynicism, etc.) Describe the speaker in your critique. 4. What are the strongest aspects of this poem? (Write these down in your critique, and explain why they are the strongest.) 5. What suggestions for revision or development might you make for this poem? How can it reach its full potential? (Write these suggestions in your critique, being as specific as possible.) __poem below___ Tracks of the Wandering Mind I want sometimes naught but to weep As standing by the trestle deep I long to follow that railroad train To a realm of dream that’s free of pain. What an urge I have to stray somewhere On a train that’s bigger than a bear which climbs up toward old mountain peaks And watch the sea for days and weeks. A train to some vast tropic isle Where swaying beauty makes me smile. But the trains of reality just skitter off And my city home where pollution does cough Doesn’t let me see the pyramids Or drink till dawn with memory’s kids, Or ride off to the Orient To get away from this discontent. But today something inside me went through a shift And gave my spirits that needed lift, And I bid adieu to my dreams of escape while the train roared through like a ghostly shape.
