Writing Help 129 | - ☆ Freelance Writer
Apr 06, 2013 | #1
Poetic Terms You Have to Learn
Although we have not progressed nearly as far as we will need to in this series in order to begin making great interpretations of poems, the issue of interpretation itself is so important, and so often confused, that it needs to be discussed sooner rather than later. Most people assume that interpretation is the sole activity involved in reading a poem, and that interpretation is the key to becoming a proficient reader of verse. However, allow me to state unequivocally that this is not that case, and that such an approach will only cause you to suffer through any poems you do happen to make it through.
The word interpretation is an interesting one to use in the case of a work of literature, because it has such a strong meaning already in the fields of linguistics and especially cryptography. If I refer to someone as an interpreter, this means that person is adept at at least two languages, and that they are able to translate what someone says in one language into another. Similarly, if I am a master interpreter of codes, this means I am able to take a message which has been hidden in some kind of series of symbols and reveal it. In both cases, there is a correct interpretation, and an incorrect interpretation; if the translator gets the interpretation wrong, confusion will result, and people will quickly clue in to the fact that an error has been made. Likewise, if the code-breaker gets the interpretation wrong, the message discovered will be wrong, or complete nonsense, and the consequences could be dire.
However, in the realm of poetic interpretation, the term can hardly be said to apply in the same way. First of all, what is presented to the reader is not a foreign language or a secret code, but first and foremost a series of statements made in a familiar tongue. No matter how poor you are at understanding poetry, you will find familiar territory in a poem, and you will achieve an understanding of many individual aspects of it, as well as how many of them relate. If you see trees and flowers in a poem, and snails with wigs and canes, you might have no idea what this has to do with anything (although the rule of significance will help), but at least you can appreciate the snails for themselves. Exploring the surface of a poem is the most important part of coming to understand it, and this takes place before anything like interpretation goes on.
Note too that the emotive and subjective aspects of the poetic experience are as important, if not more so, than any other consideration. Remember that we read poems for the emotional experience first; the intellectual puzzle comes only later. Think of the interpretation and analysis you do of a poem not as ends in themselves, but as ways to increase your understanding and therefore your enjoyment of poetry. The more you know, and the deeper you go, the more complete your experience will feel.
Finally, unlike the examples of interpretation mentioned above, there is not one correct interpretation for poetic works. The act of reading poetry is an interactive process between the text and the individual reader, and as a result, individuals will have unique experiences. However, do not confuse this with the all-too-popular "there are no wrong answers." Believe me, there are, and if you don't believe me, try writing an essay about how all of Shakespeare's sonnets are really about the stock market crash of 1929. Because the text of the poem is consistent even thought its readers may be different, there is a broad but not limitless range of interpretation. If you have read well, and thoroughly immersed yourself in a poem, chances are yours is going to fall into this range.
Interpretation
Although we have not progressed nearly as far as we will need to in this series in order to begin making great interpretations of poems, the issue of interpretation itself is so important, and so often confused, that it needs to be discussed sooner rather than later. Most people assume that interpretation is the sole activity involved in reading a poem, and that interpretation is the key to becoming a proficient reader of verse. However, allow me to state unequivocally that this is not that case, and that such an approach will only cause you to suffer through any poems you do happen to make it through.
The word interpretation is an interesting one to use in the case of a work of literature, because it has such a strong meaning already in the fields of linguistics and especially cryptography. If I refer to someone as an interpreter, this means that person is adept at at least two languages, and that they are able to translate what someone says in one language into another. Similarly, if I am a master interpreter of codes, this means I am able to take a message which has been hidden in some kind of series of symbols and reveal it. In both cases, there is a correct interpretation, and an incorrect interpretation; if the translator gets the interpretation wrong, confusion will result, and people will quickly clue in to the fact that an error has been made. Likewise, if the code-breaker gets the interpretation wrong, the message discovered will be wrong, or complete nonsense, and the consequences could be dire.However, in the realm of poetic interpretation, the term can hardly be said to apply in the same way. First of all, what is presented to the reader is not a foreign language or a secret code, but first and foremost a series of statements made in a familiar tongue. No matter how poor you are at understanding poetry, you will find familiar territory in a poem, and you will achieve an understanding of many individual aspects of it, as well as how many of them relate. If you see trees and flowers in a poem, and snails with wigs and canes, you might have no idea what this has to do with anything (although the rule of significance will help), but at least you can appreciate the snails for themselves. Exploring the surface of a poem is the most important part of coming to understand it, and this takes place before anything like interpretation goes on.
Note too that the emotive and subjective aspects of the poetic experience are as important, if not more so, than any other consideration. Remember that we read poems for the emotional experience first; the intellectual puzzle comes only later. Think of the interpretation and analysis you do of a poem not as ends in themselves, but as ways to increase your understanding and therefore your enjoyment of poetry. The more you know, and the deeper you go, the more complete your experience will feel.
Finally, unlike the examples of interpretation mentioned above, there is not one correct interpretation for poetic works. The act of reading poetry is an interactive process between the text and the individual reader, and as a result, individuals will have unique experiences. However, do not confuse this with the all-too-popular "there are no wrong answers." Believe me, there are, and if you don't believe me, try writing an essay about how all of Shakespeare's sonnets are really about the stock market crash of 1929. Because the text of the poem is consistent even thought its readers may be different, there is a broad but not limitless range of interpretation. If you have read well, and thoroughly immersed yourself in a poem, chances are yours is going to fall into this range.