To determine the theme, read the poem and try to ascertain what the poet is saying. Think about whether he is describing an object or situation, revealing an experience, discussing an issue, relating an emotion or philosophizing about life's problems.
Poets use the theme of war as a basis for their feelings on the topic. For example, Thomas Hardy's poem, "The Man He Killed" expresses emotions of a soldier who confesses that he killed his enemy because it was war and it was required of him. The poet uses the theme that, if the soldier had met the enemy under different circumstances, they might have been friends. Another example of a war theme is Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade," in which the central idea deals with the Crimean War between Russia and England in 1854. The poet narrates how 600 men rode to their deaths. The famous line of the poem, "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die" is a theme that in war you must follow instructions.
"Dover Beach" by Mathew Arnold uses an unusual approach to the theme of love. Instead of emphasizing love throughout the poem, he describes a peaceful scene that is disrupted by pebbles and waves bringing out the "ebb and flow of human misery." The poet then develops the theme by saying, "Ah love, let us be true for the world which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams hath really neither joy nor love ... where ignorant armies clash by night." This theme shows that all we really have is our love amidst the misery of the world. Also, look at Elizabeth Browning's 43rd sonnet. In this poem, the theme of deep love is obvious. "How do I love thee, let me count the ways ..." She continues by revealing different ways of expressing love.
The theme of "Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson can be stated as accepting death. To the poet, the grave is a form of home that he will welcome when the time comes. He also requests that this poem be placed upon his grave site as a remembrance of his life. Consider the theme in Tennyson's "In Memoriam A.H.H." The poet describes his feelings at the death of a dear friend. He reminisces about their life together. He also brings out the philosophy in the theme that "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
In Robert Frost's poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening," the theme illustrates a conflict between nature and life's reality. The narrator has to make a decision. He loves the nature scene, but at the same time is torn to return to the commitments he has made in his daily life.
The theme of the poem "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes brings out the idea that, if you put a dream aside, it can never be achieved. A deferred dream "stinks like rotten meat" or "dries up like a raisin in the sun." Another famous poem to be considered is "The Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The theme is that evil acts have consequences. An ancient mariner killed a good luck albatross, causing a ship to have bad luck. The captain requires him to carry the dead albatross around his neck as a reminder of his evil deed.