How should I approach an unseen poem in an exam, such as Thomas Hardy's 'The Voice'?

Working through unseen poetry can be a really creative and thought-provoking process. I would advise the student to take a deep breath, shut out the context of the exam hall, and read the poem through slowly. If you're at home practising, I would always read it out loud – although in an exam, it's better to read with your mental voice! Imagining speaking the poem out loud is really important for a text such as 'The Voice', which is full of sound patterning and interesting rhymes. After the first reading, take some coloured pencils to mark up several elements: first, any words that seem especially important to the sense of the poem; secondly, the end-rhymes (full or half); thirdly, where the stresses of the rhythm fall (is it an identifiable meter?); and finally, any important punctuation that marks a break in the sentences or lines. In 'The Voice', for example, you might notice that the rhyme scheme begins in the style of a Shakespearean sonnet – but some of the end-rhymes are not complete ones, and the number of lines poses an awkward extra couplet. This introduces a suggestion of love, but with something amiss. Reading the poem out loud or mentally also emphasises the unusual rhythm that creates a mourning lament, with stress falling on poignant phrases such as 'call to me, call to me'. The sounds of the poem echo each other in a desolate cry. Words such as 'call', 'all', 'falling', 'here', 'hear', 'near', reverberate around the tight structure of the text. Spending more time with the poem will reveal further structural elements, but these are some of the most immediate and powerful examples that strike me. I would suggest engaging with the poem closely to understand its sense, and then directing the reading towards whatever the question is asking. How do the formal, structural and image patterns help to create a certain mood? What is clear and what is open to interpretation? How does it make you feel and why?