Oh, B!
b. A poem means what its author intended it to mean. The best interpretations come closest to that.
That is a true statement, assuming a competent writer and a poem that says what the writer intended it to say. Whether the poem actually says what it attempts to say is another story. If a writer can't handle the language in which he's writing, his poem's literal meaning may be the very last thing he intended. But that doesn't make an incoherent poet a genius in disguise, or his poem a gift that came to him in unknown tongues.
Sure, a poet puts in all kinds of things he doesn't know he's putting in because he isn't aware of the personal associations his readers will bring to the table. And if he's not very introspective, his subconscious mind may be trying to trick him into revealing something he hasn't faced up to yet. Often we don't realize how a poem is going to end when we begin it. But we know when we get there, or we ought to, and if we keep it, then it's what we intend.
When people interpret a poem in a way that's independent of the intended meaning, assuming the writer is capable of putting his meaning across, they are rewriting the poem in their own heads. They should write their own.
Carol
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