How do I analyse an unseen poem?

Analysing a poem you’ve seen can be daunting, let alone one that you’ve never seen before. However it is important that your approach is consistent and levelled, and that you follow a systematic approach that ensures that you hit all of the criteria necessary.
Firstly, before you even touch your pen, read the poem. Enjoy it, take it in as a literary piece as opposed to an examination tool, try to understand it in its most basic form. Once you’ve read it twice, on your third reading try to decide what this poem is presenting/conveying. An unseen poetry question wants to see how best you dissect its presentation and its impact upon the reader, not just how well you can spot similes or metaphors. What does it convey? What is it presenting? What is it’s strongest theme? Are there any other corresponding/alternative themes? Go with your strongest interpretation and use the poem to to evidence what you are saying. Are you saying that the poem presents love as ruthless? Then HOW does it do this? Use the acronym below to best help you dissect it.
TWITTER
T- ThemeW- Who/When (A04) This is crucial for hitting those context marksI- Imagery- how is the language portraying and image? Is this visceral, visual, olfactory etcT- Tone- what tone is it presenting? And how does this support your initial interpretation T- Technique- what techniques are being used? This is where most students flourish, however USE the techniques to support your interpretation. E- Explore interpretations- this is showing sophistication and flair in your writing, can you find more than one interpretation, does a specific metaphor used have a dual meaning in your opinion?R- Rhyme and Rhythm, the reading of a poem is affected by these and largely influences it’s tone, decipher what this is and again use it to justify your reasonings.
The best thing you can do is search for random poems online and practise analysing them, always remember your Assessment Objectives and have a vague structure that you follow and you’ll be sure to succeed.