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April 8, 2006
Langston Hughes bio
Hughes and Frost -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)"These poets reinforce Randall Jarrell's assertion that those who have inherited the custom of not reading poetry justify it by referring to the obscurity of the poems they have never read." Roberts just finished telling us all about Hughes' influences: Whitman, Longfellow, etc., then gives us this line. I don't think that he means obscurity as in "little known", I think that he means "Obscurity" as in "opagueness" or "cloudy", especially when the preceding line about clarity being derived from particular choices instead of "intellectial poverty".
Posted by BrendaChristeleit at April 8, 2006 5:53 PM
Comments
Yeah, I think you're right, Brenda. Here it seems to be referring to the fact that those readers who refuse to read poetry are the ones who don't take the time to truly read it and appreciate it.
Myself, I think obscurity is one of poetry's best qualities, because it lets readers develop their own meaningful connection.
Posted by: ChrisU at April 11, 2006 8:40 AM