I Knew It!
I knew it! Poets don't want to be torn apart! Maybe sometimes, maybe on whim, maybe gently, but not always, not forced.
If you haven't guessed of the poems I read, I liked "Introduction to Poetry" (74) the best because, of course, it is how I feel about analyzing lit. "...torture a confession out of it. / They begin beating it with a hose / to find out what it really means."
The poem wants us to feel its meaning, contemplate it. Maybe it doesn't have one. Does it have to have a deeper meaning? Can't we read over it briefly or "probe" it softly? If we don't find anything, why do we have to continue searching? Sometimes looking for something that isn't there. Just for a grade.
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Aja Hannah on I Knew It!: Wow! I'm so see-through! My op
Cody Naylor on I Knew It!: Oh, Aja, I knew you'd love thi
Jessie Krehlik on I Knew It!: I agree with you Aja 100 perce
Jessica Orlowski on I Knew It!: Well, I assume that it would b
Josie Rush on I Knew It!: Ha, I had the same reaction to
Melissa Schwenk on I Knew It!: I tend to that whole over thin
Cody Naylor on I Knew It!: Oh, Aja, I knew you'd love thi
Jessie Krehlik on I Knew It!: I agree with you Aja 100 perce
Jessica Orlowski on I Knew It!: Well, I assume that it would b
Josie Rush on I Knew It!: Ha, I had the same reaction to
Melissa Schwenk on I Knew It!: I tend to that whole over thin
I tend to that whole over think a poem just to find something or a meaning behind it, too. Nice point.
Ha, I had the same reaction to this poem. *I* certainly don't want my work "beat[en] with a hose." If a reader has to choose between enjoying a poem and analyzing it, I guarantee most poets would beg you to enjoy.
Well, I assume that it would be painful to be beaten by a hose so- if WE don't want to be beaten by hoses, I suppose poems dont either :)
In all seriousness, though, I agree. Enjoyment should come first. Analysis is just the icing on the cake.
I agree with you Aja 100 percent. Sometimes I just feel like I'm pushing too far looking for symbolism in a poem. It's like what Dr. Wendland told us back in Travel Lit, our analyses might not even be what the author was hoping for. I agree that sometimes, I'm more concerned with filling a page with analysis of symbolism that I reach so far out that even I don't believe the connections I'm coming up with.
Oh, Aja, I knew you'd love this one... I did too. I agree with you that I think sometimes poets just write for something cathartic to do and really don't want their work picked apart by some snotty English major who is probably just going to twist their similes and metaphors into something that is so far off from his or her original intent for the work.
Wow! I'm so see-through! My opinion almost doesn't even need to be stated. Though I do see the opposite side to the argument (that there are worthwhile things that can be analyzed in poems, I like the way Jess put it. Analysis is iceing on the cake. It doesn't always and shouldn't need to be beaten.