英文詩常被認為是困難或無用的，很多臺灣的學生在讀詩或學詩的時候，很可能會覺得無趣，甚或焦慮；結果，很多老師也就英詩摒除在所選的教材之外。雖然大多數的人都認為詩有其優美動人之處，可是要學生去詮釋及欣賞英文詩卻是一件極為困難的差事。在學生視讀英詩為畏途的情況下，教授英詩當然成了許多教師棘手的任務。其實教授英詩可以從文本分析著手，教師可以藉著引導學生分析詩歌的語言使用來提升學生對語言的認知；當學生有能力去瞭解詩的語言之後，他們也能更懂得如何使用英語。本文建議教授英詩時可以跳脫傳統著重作者的生平與歷史背景的介紹，從文本的語言分析開始引導學生發掘可以探討的要素，找尋閱讀的方法，進一步使用他們所學的英文，一方面詮釋語言，一方面欣賞詩歌。換句話說，藉由閱讀英詩，學生可以將他們的語言能力應用到文本詮釋，同時也能藉著對文本的理解，認知語言的使用。在英語教室裡，教師不應是知識的灌輸者，而是學習的輔助者；相對的，學生不再是被動的接受者，而是主動的學習者。本文結合語言學習與英詩教學的討論，希望能為國內英文文學的教育提供一個可行的教學方向。

Poetry is often considered difficult or useless, and many Taiwanese students may feel bored or even anxious when they read or learn English poetry. Consequently, English teachers in Taiwan tend to exclude English poetry from their curricula. Although it is undeniable that poetry is moving and beautiful, it is difficult to actually interpret and appreciate poetry. While reading English poetry appears daunting to students, teaching the subject is just as intimidating for many teachers. This paper demonstrates that poetry can be taught through textual analysis, and that by guiding students to analyze a poem, teachers can enhance students’ language awareness. In turn, when students are taught to improve their language proficiency by studying the language of poetry, they learn to appreciate poetry and, thereby, gain a deeper understanding of the English language. To substantiate this, the paper offers specific examples of accessible textual analysis that can be used to replace the standard introduction to poetry in the classroom, which focuses on the historical or biographical background of poets and on the contexts of the poems. With the teaching of the foregrounded stylistic elements in poetry, teachers can guide students to analyze these features and use them as keys to interpretation and appreciation. Thus, by reading poetry, students can learn how to apply their English skills to their interpretations of the poems. In the English classroom, the teacher is more of a facilitator of interpretation than a mere presenter of information, and students are active learners, not passive message receivers. The integration of language learning with poetry reading is aimed to help foster a practicable pedagogy in the teaching of English language and literature in Taiwan.