How do I approach analysing an unseen poem?

Analysing an unseen poem can be very daunting, however there are strategies you can employ to help you decipher them. Firstly, read the poem without making any annotations, just try to understand what you think the poem is about, and how it makes you feel- effect on the reader is a valuable tool when analysing language. Secondly, look at the imagery used: is it all connecting? Or are there contrasts? Why do you think this is? Does this connect to the theme of the poem? After doing this I would try to find specific literary techniques which you may be able to analyse in detail- metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, oxymoron, juxtaposition, etc. Always try to think about why the author uses this and what effect this has on the reader. You should also try to analyse structural aspects such as rhyme and rhythm- is this regular or irregular? Is it structured in quatrains? Is there a couplet? Is there no structure at all. Often, poets will try to apply structure to poems about concepts which are often irregular and 'messy' such as love. You should also try to identify what type of poem it is- a sonnet? Elegy? Ode? This can be significant as it can form you of the poet's intentions- for example if a poet has applied an ode form to a war poem it tells you something about how they feel about war. Finally, you could look at the beginning and endings of the poem- is there a change or turn? where does this occur? Throughout all these things you should always try to identify why, what is the poet's intentions, and what effect does this have on the reader?