A poem may appear to mean very different things to different readers, and all of these meanings may be different from what the author thought he meant. For instance, the author may have been writing some peculiar personal experience, which he saw quite unrelated to anything outside; yet for the reader the poem may become the expression of a general situation, as well as of some private experience of his own. The reader's interpretation may differ from the author's and be equally valid-- it may even be better. There may be much more in a poem than the author was aware of. The different interpretations may all be partial formulations of one thing; the ambiguities may be due to the fact that the poem means more, not less, than ordinary speech can communicate.
T.S. Eliot
Sunday, March 30, 2008
What is poetry?
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2 comments:
That doesn't stop me from wanting to know what the author was thinking whenever I read a poem that really applies to me.
maybe the author doesn't want you to know - thats why she chooses to express it in a form of a poem. besides its fun trying to figure out what the author means.. and getting it totally wrong.
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