How would you approach poetry analysis?

Poetry can be a difficult part of the GCSE curriculum because, in my experience, reading poetry isn't as common as other types of text during secondary school and so it can feel a bit daunting. There are key things that you can spot in poetry to help you get to grips with it before you begin writing.Look out for: Themes, Tone, Narrative Voice/Speaker (what can this tell us about the mood of the poem? what pronouns are used?), Linguistic Style (what does this say about the speaker?), Structure and Form, Rhythm (does it have a set rhythm? if it doesn't, what might this mean?), Purpose (does the poem seem to carry a didactic message of any kind?), Title, Language Devices (metaphor, simile, repetition, imagery, alliteration). We can try to spot some of those things in this poem from the GCSE syllabus: ‘Bayonet Charge’ by Ted Hughes: Suddenly he awoke and was running – rawIn raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy, Stumbling across a field of clods towards a green hedge, That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing, Bullets smacking the belly out of the air –He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm; The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye, Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest, –//In bewilderment then he almost stopped –In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations, Was he the hand pointing that second? He was running, Like a man who has jumped up in the dark and runs, Listening between his footfalls for the reason, Of his still running, and his foot hung like, Statuary in mid-stride. Then the shot-slashed furrows // Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame, And crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wide, Open silent, its eyes standing out. He plunged past with his bayonet toward the green hedge, King, honour, human dignity, etcetera, Dropped like luxuries in a yelling alarm, To get out of that blue crackling air, His terror’s touchy dynamite.