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[CCBC-Net] THe poem and the poet and the reader
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From: Sally Miller <derbymiller>
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 09:59:20 -0500
Actually, back in the dark ages when I was a student at Western College, I was able to hear Robert Frost give a poetry reading at nearby Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
I have vivid memories of that day, not the least of which is of his glaring from the podium and announcing that he was not going to try to speak over the click of knitting needles, it being the fashion then for coeds to sit and knit during lectures.
After all offending implements had been hurriedly put away he began to read and comment on his poems in that gruff voice of his. I will never forget his expressed impatience with various interpretations of The Road Not Taken. As closely as I can render it, what he said was something like this. "Two roads diverged within a wood. That's what it said, and that's what it means. There were two roads, and they were different, and I took one instead of the other.' And they want to lay on all sorts of figurative meanings. It means two different roads went two different ways. That's all."
Please remember, this was over 50 years ago and I didn't have a tape recorder with me, but I'm sure I have the gist right.
As to meaning...I have always loved poetry, even when I didn't understand exactly what it meant, e.g. "anyone lived in a little how town." "how town"? Or "As kingfishers catch fire," (Hopkins) Such language is beautiful enough to make me want to ferret out meaning not immediately obvious to me. But I'll admit a great impatience with poets who seem to be deliberately obscure, especially when they offer me neither rhyme, rhythm, nor melody as compensation for murky strings of strange similes. Further, many have no discernible sentence structure to act as road guide. (Obviously, I've strayed away from children's poetry here.) So again now,I'll get down from my soapbox in order to read and learn more from others.
Received on Mon 07 Apr 2008 09:59:20 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 09:59:20 -0500
Actually, back in the dark ages when I was a student at Western College, I was able to hear Robert Frost give a poetry reading at nearby Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
I have vivid memories of that day, not the least of which is of his glaring from the podium and announcing that he was not going to try to speak over the click of knitting needles, it being the fashion then for coeds to sit and knit during lectures.
After all offending implements had been hurriedly put away he began to read and comment on his poems in that gruff voice of his. I will never forget his expressed impatience with various interpretations of The Road Not Taken. As closely as I can render it, what he said was something like this. "Two roads diverged within a wood. That's what it said, and that's what it means. There were two roads, and they were different, and I took one instead of the other.' And they want to lay on all sorts of figurative meanings. It means two different roads went two different ways. That's all."
Please remember, this was over 50 years ago and I didn't have a tape recorder with me, but I'm sure I have the gist right.
As to meaning...I have always loved poetry, even when I didn't understand exactly what it meant, e.g. "anyone lived in a little how town." "how town"? Or "As kingfishers catch fire," (Hopkins) Such language is beautiful enough to make me want to ferret out meaning not immediately obvious to me. But I'll admit a great impatience with poets who seem to be deliberately obscure, especially when they offer me neither rhyme, rhythm, nor melody as compensation for murky strings of strange similes. Further, many have no discernible sentence structure to act as road guide. (Obviously, I've strayed away from children's poetry here.) So again now,I'll get down from my soapbox in order to read and learn more from others.
Received on Mon 07 Apr 2008 09:59:20 AM CDT
