What are different ways that you can 'analyse ways in which meaning is shaped' in a poetic text?

Firstly, it is important to breakdown the meaning behind this assessment objective and to understand what the exam board are looking for to ensure that the student is hitting the criteria. An analysis of meaning is referring to the poet's intentions, for example if they want to convey a sense of guilt and to 'shape' this they might write in a retrospective tone.In poetic texts meaning can be shaped in the choice of language, the structure and also the delivery.Important factors to consider are: the use of verse and prose (most schools study a Shakespearean text) and for example its purpose to shape the meaning of hierarchy. The use of varying line and stanza length, continued lines, end stop lines, rhyme schemes, rhythm, persepctive (e.g retrospective, cyclical structure), imagery, symbolism and personification, setting . Once you can recognise these aspects in a text and when analysing you should think about the effect that these have on the audience, what emotions might they evoke? or perhaps what insight do they give into the poet/poem's perspective in correlation to the exam board's focus that your school has chosen? A good place to start with this is to begin with base language analysis - such as semantics and colour and work from initial thoughts to look into connotation.