Poetry Questions

As I was answering the questions for the poems, I found with each poem, I understood more and more, and my scores on the poems reflected that feeling. My main issue continues to be identifying poem forms, rhyme forms, meter, etc. Still, in areas like syntax and meaning, I find figurative language to be the most difficult for me. Between understanding the literal meaning of the word in its context and understanding what it means in relation to the poem, I just get lost. I also think at times, this also confuses me on the main meaning, because sometimes I am close to figuring out exactly what the message is, but certain syntax really determines which meaning I choose. Understanding syntax and what the syntax means is the main focus to understanding poetry, so I hope I can begin to understand it better. I do think practicing with different poems reveals how to pick out important words that mean more to the message.