Students often find poetry esoteric. The meaning is hidden and they are just not able to unlock its meaning. I have found something that works great for all levels of English from standard ninth grade to AP Lit for seniors - archetypes.
Archetypes are symbols that are hard coded into our conscious, so the students already know them - our job is to bring them to the surface of our consciousness. Once there, they unlock meaning. For example - take "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" - it's winter and night, both archetypes of the end and death. The guy is traveling, often an indicator of a life's journey. Just armed with those facts alone, the student can now look at this poem as a man approaching death. Add in other details - the horse thinks it odd that he is stopping now and we can start to imagine that either the horse (friends/family of his on his life's journey) think it is odd that he is accepting death or they think it is odd that he is approaching death. Maybe he is a younger man. Then they can look at the ending and see that miles to go before he sleeps can be both literal and figurative. This man is not quite ready to leave the world behind and will fight on for a while longer. All that from a few archetypes. This really builds student confidence.
There is also a follow up lesson if you want to drive the point in further using a John Keats poem.
I use this every year and have had great success with it both in general and more specifically to this blog, with students getting a few more questions right on that final test.
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