In a manner of speaking, the poem is its own knower, neither poet nor reader knowing anything that the poem says apart from the words of the poem.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The poet does not know - often he will never know - whom he really writes for.
To know anything of a poet but his poetry is, so far as the poetry is concerned, to know something that may be entertaining, even delightful, but is certainly inessential.
Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew. It is a learned skill to force yourself to articulate your life, your present world or your possibilities for the future.
A novelist can get by on story, but the poet has nothing but the words.
We know the particular poem, not what it says that we can restate.
In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite.
One can't write for all readers. A poet cannot write for people who don't like poetry.
The importance of poetry is not measured, finally, by what the poet says but by how he says it.
I believe that poems are a score for performance by the reader, and that you become the speaking voice. You don't read or overhear the voice in the poem - you are the voice in the poem.
Poetry is the communication through words of certain experiences that can be communicated in no other way.
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