The best way to read poetry is to come at it from the heart. Don’t read it like it’s a poem; read it like it’s an outpouring from the soul. (Because it is.)
Don’t be picky or overanalytical; don’t automatically look for deeper meaning within the poem or try to figure out symbolysis or figurative language on the first read-through.
When you read a poem for the first time, just read it. Don’t stop. Just get all the way through. Let yourself really feel the poem.
Then you can read it several times more, and during those subsequent read-throughs, you can start figuring out symbolism or figurative language. But don’t over-analyze anything. If you try to pick a poem apart too much, it loses its beauty. Poems are beautiful as a whole, and while their individual parts are beautiful too, those parts have to be allowed to connect with one another to give a poem its depth and meaning.
Just enjoy the poem when you read it. That’s really just the best way to read poetry. It’s not a job or an assignment; it’s for fun. It’s to make yourself feel something: awe, joy, sadness, a connection. So treat it like that, not as work.
I hope that helped!
