Marilyn,
I reject (a.) absolutely. I have often heard it and have always thought "baloney" or words to that effect.
(b.) is also fallible. I am not one who thinks that a poem means what it says. That's where the unconscious enters the process. Writing depends as much on the unconscious as on the conscious. Each individual has different life-shaping experiences and we can't know whether we mean the same thing when we use words. The clues are more in the shape of the poem.
As a trained musician it was always my earnest endeavour to enter the mind of a composer but I knew it was ultimately impossible. I would have considered it cheap and unworthy of any interpreter not to attempt to be faithful to the composer's intentions. Every performance is different but they all start at that point. The same goes for poetry. For me the greatest joy is to feel an affinity with a poet from another era and location. To sense that we shared some timeless experience. Of course the differences will be enormous but I believe the loss is the reader's if no attempt is made to bridge the gulf.
Contemporay poetry is no less difficult. The reward is an occasional meeting of minds. And even more remarkable in poetry from any era, the gift of a new experience.
Janet
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