Trouble with me English Poetry Analysis

[TerioN.]

Ok so the poem is called Identity by Julio Noboa

[quote=Identity]Let them be as flowers,
always watered, fed, guarded, admired,
but harnessed to a pot of dirt.
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle
wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.
To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea,
carrying my soul, my seed, beyond the mountains of time
or into the abyss of the bizarre
I'd rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,
growing in clusters in the fertile valleys,
where they're praised, handled, and plucked
by greedy, human hands.
I'd rather smell of musty, green stench
than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
If I could stand alone, strong and free,
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed.[/quote]

So we have to analyze:
Voice (including tone and mood)
Use of figurative language/rhetorical devices
Sound/visual effects such as rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance
Theme and symbolism and how the above relate to and support the theme.

Isn't use of figurative language and sound/visual effects the same thing?
What is the theme and symbolism exactly? I don't get it
Please help!

[cereja]

Basically, the speaker would rather be unimportant and unrecognized while free than be someone of great importance and admired while controlled by others. If you have trouble writing about the individual (theme) bring out the universal truth in it and try to relate it to a greater scale.

Figurative language means that his words are not literal. He doesn't want to be an eagle or an ugly weed, but he uses those to show a concept.

[TerioN.]

So like a metaphor right?

Also, I tried to relate this to like to homeless people, nobody really cares about them () so they can do whatever they want.

[cereja]

Yeah, metaphors work .

Actually, the first time I read that i thought about teenagers. Or anyone who doesn't want to conform to society and wants to have freedom and do their own thing.

[sraja90]

its actually not that hard. you just have to take a bit of time and take in what youve read. It also pays off to know literary terms. My teacher actually gave me Harmen and Hollmann packets which cover almost all terms which you may need in the class and in college further on down the road.