Hagas lo que hagas, lee otra vez la última estrofa: la rima y la metáfora ayudan a entender mejor a la narradora.

Because this structure uses the subjunctive to express whatever / no matter what.

Hagas lo que hagas is a very common pattern in Spanish:

• digas lo que digas = whatever you say
• pase lo que pase = whatever happens
• vayas donde vayas = wherever you go

So hagas lo que hagas is not simply you do what you do. It means no matter what you do.

Here, lo que helps build the idea of whatever.

On its own, lo que often means what or that which. But in this repeated pattern, it contributes to the meaning whatever:

• Hagas lo que hagas = whatever you do
• Diga lo que diga = whatever he/she says

So you should learn the whole pattern as a unit, not word by word.

This is how the Spanish pattern works. The verb is repeated on both sides of lo que:

• hagas lo que hagas
• digas lo que digas
• seas quien seas

It sounds repetitive in English if translated literally, but in Spanish it is completely natural and very common.

Yes. It is a very productive pattern.

You can reuse it with many verbs:

• comas lo que comas = whatever you eat
• pienses lo que pienses = whatever you think
• veas lo que veas = whatever you see

It is especially useful when you want to say no matter what.

Because lee is the tú imperative of leer.

Here are the main forms:

• lee = read (you, informal singular)
• lea = read (you, formal singular)
• leed = read (you all, informal plural, used in Spain)
• lean = read (you all, formal plural, or general plural in Latin America)

So this sentence is speaking to one person informally.

Because Spanish usually drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

• Lee otra vez... already means Read again...
• Adding tú is possible, but it would usually add emphasis or contrast.

So the version without tú is the most natural one here.

Otra vez here means again or one more time.

Yes, de nuevo would also work:

• Lee otra vez la última estrofa
• Lee de nuevo la última estrofa

Both are correct. Otra vez is very common and natural in everyday Spanish.

In poetry:

• estrofa = stanza
• verso = line of poetry

So la última estrofa means the last stanza, not just the last line.

That matters here, because the sentence is telling the reader to reread a larger section of the poem, not just one single line.

Because ayudar is commonly followed by a + infinitive when it means help to do something.

So:

• ayudan a entender = help to understand

This is a standard pattern:

• me ayuda a estudiar
• nos ayuda a aprender
• te ayudará a mejorar

In everyday English, we sometimes drop to after help, but in Spanish the a is normally used.

That is the personal a.

Spanish often uses a before a specific human direct object:

• Veo a María
• Entiendo al profesor
• Conocen a mi hermana

Here, la narradora is a person, so Spanish says:

• entender mejor a la narradora

Even though in English we just say understand the narrator, Spanish normally keeps the personal a.

Not necessarily.

La narradora is the female narrator or female narrative/poetic voice. That is the voice speaking in the text.

This may or may not be the same as the real author. In literature, especially poetry, we often distinguish between:

• author = the real person who wrote the text
• narrator / speaker = the voice inside the text

So la narradora refers to the voice in the poem, not automatically the poet herself.

The colon introduces an explanation or reason for the command.

The structure is:

• Read the last stanza again: rhyme and metaphor help you understand the narrator better.

So the second part explains why you should reread it.

A comma would be weaker, and a full stop would separate the ideas more. The colon neatly shows that the second clause supports the first one.