How do I go about analysing a poem?

I like to think of the process like a Russian doll, there are lots of steps to the process just as there are dolls within the one big doll. Start with the overall message, give it a read through- it often takes more than one reading to find the message so don't be afraid if you don't understand it first time. Then imagine we open up that doll and reveal the next layer and begin to break the poem down. Start with the title and then move through stanza by stanza, get a feel of the overall tone and how it changes across the stanzas. Now we open up to the final doll, this one is the smallest so we have to really dissect the lines of the poem. Go through the poem methodically, line by line and closely analyse every word. Look out for techniques, are there any metaphors? Is there a pause in the line or is it continuous? What sort of associations do the images create? The important thing to remember is that each doll must fit back into previous one and so every idea you have just annotated around the poem needs to support that initial message or, if it doesn't, needs to reveal a new message that you didn't see on first reading. Now you have your evidence to support your interpretation of the poem.