Explain the liberal humanism approach to analyzing a poem in layman's terms.

Liberal Humanism refers to a set of values
and attitudes about the relationship of the individual to the outside world. Many of the
concepts that seem fundamental to human existence that emerged from the Enlightenmentbriefly
summarized in the Declaration of Independence as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness"are expressions of what has come to be known as liberal humanism.

In the context of literary texts or poetry, a liberal humanist reading would embrace
the following precepts:

1. Literature is timeless and transcends its
   historical context (that is, it is intrinsically valuable and fundamentally
   ahistorical)
2. It is self contained; a reader doesn't have to look to outside
   material to understand its meaning;
3. It should be read in isolation from
   other material
4. Human nature is essentially unchanged; people today have the
   same feelings and desires as people from hundreds or thousands of years ago


5. People are individuals and that individuality can be defined as our
   "essence"
6. The purpose of literature is to preserve or enhance
   these essential values, in a subtle way
7. The form and content should be
   organically linked, that is, the structure of the poem (meter and rhyme, stanzas and line
   breaks, etc.) should enhance the meaning
8. It should be true or real or
   genuine; that is, it should articulate a truth in a new and direct way that avoids
   cliche
9. It should show rather than tell
10. The role of the
    critic is to help the reader unlock the true meaning of the piece.

So, in brief, a liberal humanist reading of a poem would involve a close
reading of the text in an attempt to understand its "universal truth"in other words,
that which is revealed by the essential humanity shared by reader and writer.

See Peter Barry, Beginning Theory (Oxford UP,
2013)