What is close reading, and where do I start?

Close reading is really all about noticing things- noticing how the poem has been put together, and the specific choices the poet has made which have led to the finished piece. When you read a poem, your first response will probably be an emotional one, a thought or feeling which you might not know how to explain. Close reading will help you to explain that feeling, by identifying and analysing the literary devices the poem uses to evoke a particular response in a reader, or express a specific idea. When you start close reading, it is useful to break your analysis down into 3 main categories, which are language, form and structure. When beginning close reading, I’d recommend first reading the poem through (aloud, or in your head) and only paying attention to the feelings or images it inspires. Do you feel happy or sad? Calm or out of breath? Are you imagining specific places, people, colours or seasons? Write down your answers; these are the “end results” of your analysis. Now you need to work out why you might be feeling or imagining these things. Read the poem again, and start thinking about its language, form and structure. Here are some initial questions you can ask yourself as you read the poem through for the second time: Language: Don’t worry about the words’ meaning for a moment, and think instead about how they sound. Are there specific sounds which repeat themselves? Are they harsh or soft? Is it easy to read the poem aloud, or do you get stuck in some places? Is there one specific idea which comes up a lot in the poem? Does the same word repeat itself, or are there lots of words which describe the same idea?
Form: How does the poem look on the page? Who is speaking in the poem, and to whom?
Structure: How do the things you’ve noticed (form, imagery, sound) change as the poem goes on? Does this give you a different feeling when reading it? Does the poem have a satisfying ending? Does the ending look or sound the same as the beginning? If not, is there a turning point when it starts looking different? 
As you practise more close reading, you'll start to match these steps up, deciding which elements of language, form and structure have led to the emotions and images that you first noted down.