Students in every country generally have the same reaction to the task of reading poetry - oh no!
This is because students think that they don't know how or can't read poetry. 'It's too hard' and 'it doesn't make sense' are two arguments students commonly make as to why they dislike poetry.
Students often struggle to understand poetry because it uses language that is more abstract or metaphorical. Poets often do not say what they mean outright. Instead, they try to get you to imagine the obvious from a different angle.
Let's look at an example. If a poet wanted to describe a pregnant woman, instead of saying simply that she is expecting, the poet might say: The woman's belly swelled with life.
From this line you see that the poet has found a more descriptive way of saying the obvious. Her belly is large like that of a pregnant woman. It is large because life (a baby) is growing inside. Not as difficult as it seems, right?
In fact, reading poetry doesn't have to be as tedious and complicated as you think. Once you come up with a few simple steps and ideas in your mind, reading a poem might actually become quite enjoyable.
So what are these steps?