[Milton-L] interpreting poems variously [was Satan etc.]

[Kim Maxwell]

Carl

As several have already noted, we do not, or should not, interpret poetry in any way we want.  The words have to do work, which is to limit the range of meanings.  However, most serious poetry means more than its words, leading us to interpreted meanings by varrious means, of which unraveling ambiguity is one.  Empson book on this subject of course should be read, if not taken too much to heart (he feels prescriptive at times).  The question raised by literary critics has often been related to how we obtain these interpreted meanings.  The oldest text I know of on the subject is Plato's Ion.  It is worth a careful read.  When one gets beyond the idea that poetry is channelling divine inspiration, it raises many of the questions about poetry that we still ask.

Kim Maxwell
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