The Formalist Approach in Practice

Since any literary text displays its own internal logic, a close study of the words and their meanings and looking for structural relationships and patterns helps us discover the meaning of a literary text. Formalism searches for meaning within the text's structure. In this approach attention to allusion, setting, imagery, point of view, characterization and opening and closing scenes can forward and support the author's theme. The present work will focus on applying formalist principles to arrive at an interpretation of three poems. It traces the thematic pattern through a close examination of different elements within the organic form of the poems. The analysis would be especially useful to those interested in the field of literary criticism especially formalist criticism.