How To Get The Most Out of Poetry - Close Reading 101 

To engage literature the first step you need to take is to enjoy dreaming. And believing we all have the right to dream.

You should make more of these! Turning this into a series would be really helpful for people

Idk but this made me tear up, you remind me of my professor so much. I miss attending his lectures, he was so passionate about literature and everything related to it. As a literature student myself, I really love the content you create.

R.C. Waldun’s videos are so insightful and informative. Seems like he really goes into detail with what he to say. Continue doing better, R.C. Waldun. We’ll all be here to support you.

I don’t usually comment on videos, however, I feel it is imperative to one give my complements to yourself for such a wonderful video and two share some perhaps helpful advice in regards to poetry. First of all I’d like to preface this by saying that I am now beginning my gap year after having just finished my A-levels. I’m approaching 19 soon and I struggled massively in education but I have an intense passion for most prominently literature. I got Ds almost entirely through both year 12 and year 13 with one case getting a C on my last mock in late year 13 (this is the honest truth). Although my coursework was done earlier and therefore only got a good C I actually managed to come out with an A* on paper 1 literature (don’t ask how because to be honest I couldn’t tell you, I’ve never had an A in anything in my entire life before) and a B on paper 2. I came out with a B overall but my point is I may not have gotten the best grades but that is certainly not indicative of my ability. Anyway, enough ramble. Two of the most important tips I can give to someone who is looking to dabble in poetry at all, whether it’s to close read or to just understand and enjoy it, the two tips are: 1. Bring patience to the work. This can be applicable to any difficult work, however, it is a necessity for most when it comes to poetry. Bask in the lack of understanding and attempt to break down phrases or even singular words within the poem to access the point. You may fail to understand every line in every poem or every poem for that matter but that is okay. I have poems I love with all my heart and yet I don’t know every meaning or certain words didn’t resonate with me. Simply, bring patience to the works you read and you will find what resonates with you. 2. Along with patience bring confidence. Confidence is somewhat of a neglected skill in this day and age, along with patience. The reason I encourage you to be confident is so that you can draw meaning without feeling that your point lacks substance. Confidence allows you to accept any idea you may have about a certain line or poem as a whole. If you go to poetry without confidence then you will get frustrated because you dismiss every point or idea you come up with surrounding the poems meaning and henceforth believe you don’t understand the work. This usually leads to a dislike of the work. It’s why my generation seems to hate Shakespeare. Because they associate difficulty and lack of understanding with the quality of the work. If you are confident you can at least get somewhere, even if it is a tenuous point it may lead to a greater understanding. Apologies for the length, I hope this potentially helps some individual out there. Oh and once again fantastic work this video is great as are all your others; I hope to find individuals like yourself one day at university :)

I'm becoming a high school english teacher and will definitely recommend your channel to my future students as an addtional resource if they need or are interested in one.

Robin, I have stumbled across your channel as I’ve fallen into literature at 25, after years of thinking I was too stupid for it, due to a failing school system probably. I just wanted to say I’ve learnt more from you in the past few weeks than I did the whole time I was in school. You’ve put words to what I have always felt when I read poetry and wrote stories. This is amazing, thank you. I’m Irish too so thanks for speaking about Joyce, Beckett, Yeats etc… 😅

This was great, Robin! I enjoyed the combination of comedy sketch and serious explanation. Having barely studied literature formally, I am unfamiliar with a lot of the terms, but I can relate to "close reading." It is indeed something that has to be developed over time, which gives one something to look forward to in the future - that one's interpretations will grow more mature and in-depth.

Im a classics student whos surrounded by ppl that studied it already, and I just wanted to thank you for your videos over the years because they really helped me :) love your channel

The whole poem is so pretty that I don't even want to tear it apart. It's lovely and understandable!

Thank you for this video. I’ve learned literacy theory in my AP literature class just last week, but never really had a system for close reading. I could analyze literature but it was usually very difficult. Your description of close reading really helped and your videos really encourage me to pursue my love of literature. Thanks again :)

The timing of this video is literally perfect and was more helpful than one of my professor. I have this poem for my semester exam next month lol

Just yesterday I began to read Emily Dickinson on a whim and I was a little disappointed because I wasn't understanding any of them. But I also felt that it was okay that I didn't understand them somehow. I just let the words flow through my mind and I kind of like it. This video gave me a sense of validation that I'm on the right path. Also, I really love your video's. I've been watching you for about 2 years now, watching you and your channel grow and it's been delightful and so informative. I was first introduced to 'Dark Academia' as an aesthetic but now I'm delving into the literary side of Dark Academia and you've been guiding me through this journey and it's been a real joy, so thank you and keep the videos coming.

Absolutely loved this video! Straight to the point, without any bs and yet enjoyable to watch because of the skits. Your videos never disappoint!

As a big fan of prose, I have tried to read poetry many times, but never managed to stick to it. I will definitely try to sit down, read each poem very attentively, and analyze it instead of trying to jam up lots of poems in one session.

This is actually perfect timing because i have to read a poetry book buut don't know what to search for. Thanks

You guys should check out Arab poetry, the language is so fluid that it’s poetry is out of the world, i as a Somali am in awe of it and I don’t even fully understand the language

Quite interesting video. I hope you talk more about poetry in the future

Greetings from Perth! Discovered you a few weeks ago and I’ve been bingeing on all your videos since. Love your work, keep it up!

This short video taught me a lot about literary criticism than the whole sem of Literary Criticism. Knowing a content creator like you who's cool about humanities and literature is motivating. Not many people appreciates reading and exploring books, which makes me feel alone in pursuing my passion. You and the people in the comments showed me that I'm not alone.

Having recently delved into the inspirational and insightful cave that is your channel, I have to say, this video is one of my favourites thus far! I sincerely appreciate all the hard work you put into all your videos/essays/and more, as they expose me to, and infect with, the same passions possessing you. In short, I think you're very cool 😎

Love this series!

HI HELLO R.C. WALDUN i want you to know that your vids really push me to think better about reading books WHICH IS A REALLY GOOD THING OFC and your vids are so helpful TYSM

That Oedipus curtain reference had me rolling 😭

That was great. More please.

LOVE THIS VIDEO! So informative. Thank you! (:

I wish I saw this video before I had to hand in my poetry coursework last week lol. Great video, very informative!

Great way to humanize deep reading

Excellent explanation. Well done.

Excellent! Thanks for sharing........................peace!

Brilliant.

Great video. You can tell this guy is smart because of the way that he be

Amazing vid!

THANKS A LOT!!!

thank you so much for this video i just started my english degree so this will be very helpful haha

Bloody hell! I've learned loads.

I started reading poetry recently and I've never felt more stupid. I think I don't understand. At the end of the poem I don't even know what I've read. So now I'm here 🤣

It was such great video. Can you suggest a good book about meters and rhyme because i have been searching it for long time.

Love the skits mate hahaha

can you do a desk setup tour?

Not sure what makes me more mad, the fact I've been reading poetry wrong during all this time (luckily I haven't read much) or the fact you didn't gave us the poem symbolic meaning, but it was at least satisfying thinking over that one.

Bullshit free, loved it Robin!

Is that a Montblanc I see in the thumbnail? Please make a video about it!

woah. I never knew that. hmm gotta start reading more poems

😊

Sheesh words, humans, AND OUTRO

You kind of have a Yeats vibe

oh man ive lost the sense of "literary" on the whole 2nd minute🤣❤

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when are you going to read one piece?

~Very Good, but not Great ... This could've (should've) been longer--more in depth.

Ah, academia... beating poetry to death in order to justify their existence. Nicely done video though. 😊

Omg if you wanna get Yeats talking, just ask him questions about Maude. Or gyres. Man never shuts up about gyres 🙄🙄🙄😆

I appreciate your sharing -- but it's not 101. However, you are making implicit assumptions about the experience / knowledge your audience has previously had. Knowledge of a specific god, knowing to look at the meter... it piles up too quickly.

"freudian, feminist, and deconstructivist reading." all the post-modern styles of thinking :( lol

This is just not serious. Why do young people pull this shite?

please don't reference the song of wandering aengus ever again.

Why don’t you ever talk about the Bible? That’s the greatest literary work.

" I don't want to sound as an asshole. Not today"