Poetry

A poet has written that his work, like music, is meant to be enjoyed, not analyzed. “Its proper meaning is found in the full experience of reading or hearing it, nothing more — and nothing less,” he says. Explain why you agree or disagree with this poet’s opinion. Would it matter that this poet has published his poem for the larger world to read? Who, then, owns the meaning of a poem if it has been published to a larger world? At what point does the interpretation of a poem “belong” to the poet, and at what point does it “belong” to the reader?