Emily Dickinson daguerrotype circa 1847 (c) Authorn Unknown [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons
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Read it out loud. Most poetry is intended to be spoken aloud (think Shakespeare's plays, for example). Saying and hearing the words can often give you insight into the author's intentions, and can sometimes make it easier to understand.
Consider the context. What was going on in the world at the time the poem was written? What were the author's life experiences, and what was his/her life like around the time the poem was drafted?
Look for patterns. No part of a poem happens by accident. Poets go through many drafts of a poem, in most cases, and make many careful revisions. If you notice a theme, a word, a phrase, or something else happening in a pattern or repeatedly, take notice.
Read it again, and again. Poetry functions quite differently from prose. Understanding the words on the page is only part of understanding a poem. Readers must also consider form, references to other works, metaphor, and many other carefully crafted layers. If you don't have it all figured out the first time you read it, don't worry--you're not supposed to. Keep going!
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