How to Read Poetry

Look at the title. Does it give any clues to the meaning of the poem? Is the title unusual?

Read the poem over a few times

Read this poem out loud.

Circle any words that you do not know, and then look them up.

Look for external references to historical events, people, myths, etc

Rewrite the poem, a summary of what you think it means, in a few sentences

Break the poem into sections (a line, several lines, or a stanza) for analysis.

List the different writing strategies and tools the author uses.