Poetry is something to be experienced. A poem is not something which is plane faceted and can be understood with a mere look. One must try and dive deep into the meaning behind the words of it.
A poem is not meant to be interpreted forcefully just to be able to draw some meaning out of it. It is process which requires an effort and a desire to read it over and over again until you really begin to enjoy the poem. A reader must appreciate and read poetry as a personal experience and come up with their interpretation.
As the title “an introduction to the poetry” suggests, the poet has tried to bring out the theme that poetry must be experienced and enjoyed. Most readers try to understand the words in the poem at a mere look and figure out its literal meaning.
Poet has used many metaphors for poem to emphasize how closely a poem needs to be read and interpreted in order to understand it completely. A ‘color slide’ is used to describe a poem to advise the readers to peep into a poem with wisdom as they carefully look at a color slide under the light. This will give illuminate their minds and give a clearer picture and interpretation of the words in the poem.
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The idea that one can succeed in correctly interpreting a poem by facing the difficulties is put forward by comparing the poem to a hive. Like one has to take the risk in being contact with dangerous bee hives, similarly reading a poem demands a lot of attention to the detail. The meaning behind is that unfamiliarity that we come across when reading a poem is a part of the process only. The author has by different comparisons tried to re-emphasize that it is important to reflect upon the words in a poem to be able get the real meaning and a better sense of it.
A maze and a room in the house have been also used for a poem to reveal that it may at times be frustrating and confusing to read and interpret poem. A reader may feel uncertain about the meaning behind the words of the poem. Eventually the poet imagines the readers to be waterskiing on the poem, which portrays that readers are able to find fun and the inspiration in it.
Poem’s personification as prisoner tied to a chair and being tortured is a mockery which is pointing to the incorrect outlook that students adopt towards interpreting a poem. The poet has attempted to aid the reader’s interpretations by alerting them not to draw an inference from the poem just out of influence. The poet feels that the readers often become stubborn towards making an interpretation when they do not find any meaning in the words which is not the right thing to do.
A reader must have the right enthusiasm and interest to study and read a poem before framing an interpretation of the words in it.