I suppose one could say that poets were trying to create a form of notation--like dancers.. Yes. Or like musicians. That notation is, as you say, incomplete. Worse still, the notation tends to restrict the scope of future work.
The danger is that poetry might get into the hands of the bean counters - yes. Equally I think we shouldn't underestimate how theory-laden our opinions (and even our perceptions) are. Like all theories, these implicit ones need to be challenged - I suspect they're often ill-considered.
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