Consider the title and see what expectations it creates about the possible content of the poem.

Example:

Just considering the title I expect the poem to be about something happening in spring, probably when spring had just started (early spring).

2^nd STEP :

Read the poem at least twice in order to be sure to have understood what it is about (look for the new words, be able to translate each line);

Try to find some connections between the content of the poem and the title.

3^rd STEP :

Write the denotative analysis of the poem (in your own words say what the poem is about).

Example:

The poem is expressed by a speaking voice, in the first person who says he or she heard the notes of nature while he was sitting in a grove. The speaking voice was in a good mood, thinking of something pleasant when suddenly his or her mind was crossed by some sad thoughts.

4^th STEP :

Structure analysis (you describe the component part of the poem and say what the function of each part is).

Example:

The poem consists of (is made up of, is arranged into, is organized in) six quatrains (stanza made up of four lines each) where the poet at first provides the reader with the description of a pleasant spring landscape and in the last part invites him or her to reflect on the relationship between men and nature.

The poem is partly descriptive and partly reflective.

The reflection invited is anticipated in the refrain of the second stanza (what man has made of man).

5^th STEP :

Connotative analysis which consists in:

a) Phonological level (all that concerns sound devices) :

kind of vowels and consonants, rhyme scheme, rhythm, assonance and alliteration, pauses and punctuation, run-on-lines and stopped lines >> explain what is the effect they produce and EXPLAIN HOW THE CHOICES MADE ADD MEANING TO THE TEXT.

b) Semantic level :

consider if there are Latinate or Anglosaxon words, semantic fields, metaphorical use of words, Are words recurrent?, what verb tenses are used, what is the effect created and EXPLAIN HOW THE CHOICES MADE ADD MEANING TO THE TEXT.

c) Syntactical level (words order) :

deviation from the norm, punctuation, pauses (dasch), inversions ...