MHS successful candidate I heard u were struggling with poems, and they happen to be my one of my stronger points so I'll try and help. First of all, if you don't understand the poem or the language used in it, read the questions and options first. Most likely they will contain valuable information about what the poem is actually talking about and from there you can get your answer fairly simply. Also keep in mind that poems are rarely supposed to be taken literally and often symbolise a completely different idea from what is interpreted. For example: in the line "Dull Grave - thou spoilst the dance of youthful blood," the grave is referring to death and the dance of youthful blood refers to enjoying life or partying. Another thing, if you can't figure out what the poem is trying to say or symbolise even after that, try and find the tone of the poem. It could be a sad, melancholy poem or a bitter, sarcastic one and this helps when trying to narrow down options. A thing I often look at is punctuation, if the poem has a lot of exclamations, it is bound to be more humorous or lively while a poem with more ellipses and dull language is probably more depressing.
