Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jayne
Poetry should be accessible, and a poem should not need explaining to the reader, or its writer has failed in their duty to communicate.
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Same applies to music I suppose, and art, and science. William Empson's already been mentioned in this thread, so let me quote him
- "Poets, on the face of it, have either got to be easier or to write their own notes; readers have either got to take more trouble over reading or cease to regard notes as pretentious and a sign of bad poetry"
- "I think many people (like myself) prefer to read poetry mixed with prose; it gives you more to go by; the conventions of poetry have been getting far off from normal life, so that to have a prose bridge make reading poetry seem more natural"