Perrine article

"Some interpretations do make more sense than others. More than one meaning may be valid, but not just any meaning can be."

I guess I'll start with the things I fully agree with (the 2 sentences above being one of those things). Perrine stated multiple times how poetry is more than just what the reader thinks is happening, although that does account for something. He talks about how "interpretation is acceptable which lies within that area", which makes perfect sense to me. I know that some people will adamantly say that poetry is 100% open to interpretation and that the reader's opinion is really all that matters, and I used to think like that simply because I'd never read real poetry. After reading 4 poems and being completely wrong about all of them, I realized that being guided in the correct direction of thinking is probably better than just going with the obvious. People who think that every interpretation of poetry is valid can continue to think that, but I disagree. A highly educated English professor or an actual published poet has a lot more knowledge and experience to back up their opinions than me, a 17 year old who's just trying to understand a simply Emily Dickinson poem. 

Although Perrine brings up a few points I agree with, there's also quite a few that I disagree with. His 2 criteria for interpreting poetry make sense, but I don't think they're always valid. He says that the best interpretation is the most logical one; I think that's completely false. Some poems are meant to be riddles, they're supposed to make you think. That's what makes poetry so difficult. He also compares poetry to science, which I think is very irrelevant and doesn't really make any sense to me. There's not much else I completely disagree with, it is more that I didn't realize how "wrong" I was. The 4 poems we were assigned to interpret made sense, I thought. I have a whole new perspective on poetry after reading this article. Perrine helped me to understand that there are multiple interpretations sometimes, but there are also limits to those interpretations. I think with a little guidance and a lot of hints, I will learn to actually enjoy reading/deciphering poetry.