Poetry Interpretations

"The Nature of Proof in the Interpretations of Poetry" by Laurence Perrine

Perrine's attempt to explain that poetry can have correct and incorrect readings seems to be misleading. The second paragraph of the article gives reasons for why authors of poetry should not explain the meaning of their own poems. I happen to find myself agreeing on that particular part of the article. The mystery of the poem is what makes it desirable and allow varying interpretations for readers. If authors give away what they were writing about, the poem looses its ability to be flexible in meaning. From this paragraph, I believe Perrine seems to take an opposite opinion than my own. Much like song lyrics, poems allow can allow multiple interpretations. While a song can meaning on thing to one person, it can mean a totally different thing for another. The interpretation of a poem depends of the experiences of the person reading the poem and interpreting the poem.

As Perrine flows into the third paragraph of the article, he begins to stray from my beliefs for poem interpretation. Perrine states that a correct interpretation must account for all details of the poem. When Perrine flows into interpreting the four poems we discussed in class, he found all of the reasons for only one interpretation. Sure some of the details of Dickinson's poem lead for the poem to not be about a field, but the fun and mystery of the poem comes from the multiple interpretations of the poem. Furthermore, I disagree with using a post editor's title of "Sunset" as support for the meaning of the poem. Each person can have their own opinion and just because an editor believes in their own interpretation, it does not mean there is not more than one interpretation. The interpretation of Perrine is narrow sighted and not allowing for the artistic interpretations that poems can allow. Along with the two Civil War poems, I disagree that the second is only about stars. Although I can see where Perrine is coming from, I also believe that the poem can lead to an interpretation about a different era war.