From: Emmaattic at aol.com <Emmaattic>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 16:51:35 EDT

In a message dated 4/29/03 4:38:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Schliesman at education.wisc.edu writes:

wrong. Absolutely. A perfectly fine statement. And just as there is no right and no wrong, poetry should not be mutilated. And to say that a lovely poem that is about a rest in the lovely winter woods is about suicide mutilates the poem and the poets intent. (Even Robert Frost shook his head in later years and laughed when people thought it was about even death. But suicide? He himself said it was a poem about being tired and resting in the woods.) And yes, we can gleam many things from the life of a poet. But is it fair to take their creativity and turn it into ours? Our pleasure, yes. Our contemplation, yes. But .... I do love this discussion. I heard a children's poet (can't remember who) talk about how a poem about a wildflower DID have a hidden meaning about a child who beats to his own drummer. But many people will read that poem and simply see the free grace of growing across meadows and on mountains willy nilly just because they do. And this is wonderful, too. But not all poems have or should have hidden meanings. Nor should we look for them. How about take a breath and enjoy them. I just shiver thinking of the teachers in our profession who want to make children and young adults constantly dig for meanings. Maybe there are none. But the layers and the language are fascinating still and even though.
Received on Tue 29 Apr 2003 03:51:35 PM CDT