Interpretation of Poetry

I think that it is very interesting that poems have no set meaning. The authors of course have a set idea of what they describe in their poem but since they do not go and give a summary of their poem as novels do, many can be interpreted in any which way. I agree with Perrine's method of interpreting poetry because it would only make sense that correct interpretations should satisfy every detail of the poem. Something that makes this very interesting is that the author of the poem must be a very skilled writer. The writer has to be sure that the poem contains no contradictions that would leave a skilled reader confused. They must be sure taht every detail is correct of the central image. This is why not simply everyone can go out and write a "successful poem". Writing poems either takes great practice or is a natural gift.

This reading will definitey have me looking at poems entirely in a new way. What I have always done, I believe, was do a kind of scan of the poem and from there try to get what the gist of it was saying. I have never truly analyzed poetry. For example, when I read over some of the poems in this article, Perrine later analyzed it pulling out key words that I didn't even remember reading. I can't just read poetry like a novel, I must be much more careful and precise. Because of this article, I have realized the correct way of reading poetry and will try to improve my skill in that area. Even as poets have to be very skilled, the readers also have to have skill and experience if they wish to correctly analyze a poem. So during our poetry quarter, I am going to strive to become a better analyzer by the end.