Reader vs. writer vs. text in poetry
...the poem. A poem must be understood before it can fully be appreciated. The structure of the text could also be important. For example a sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem with a set rhyme scheme. People tend to like sonnet because of the way they sound, then sound more like a song then just literature. It helps to appreciate a poem when it is entertaining. Another example would be the chorus in the poem Jesse James. It is very easy to memorize and is also very entertaining. When a poem is easy to memorize you usually understand it better and appreciate it because it is entertaining and sounds good. Not only is the text important when trying to understand a poem but the reader is as well. The reader is the next significant aspect, because they are the ones reading the poems. A poem is written and published for people to read them. Without a reader, the poem would just be a form of self-expression of the poet, unappreciated and unread. The reader must be educated to understand every poem. The poem, The Tyger by William Blake for example, you would need to know about the bible to understand the poem. “When the stars threw down their spears, And water’d heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? De who made the Lamb make thee?” (Blake, line 17) The poem talks about God and Satan, and it is required you know the story of Lucifer to understand the poem. There are also poems that you do not need to know any additional information to understand them. Wilfred Owen wrote the poem, Anthem for a doomed youth. Another poet is Mathew Arnold, he wrote Dover Beach. These are two poems that the reader would not need further information then what is in the poem to understand them. They both talk about war and how it is very sad. Another less significant aspect would be the poet. The poet is the one who writes the poem. He or she is not important when it comes to understanding the poem. The poem Jesse James for example, we do not know who wrote the poem, but we still understand and appreciated it. You do not need to know the biography of a poet when trying to comprehend their work. Robert Frost is a poet who writes about everyday, which is shown, is his poem, The death of a hired man. The poem talks about the role of a family, and you w...