To be honest, I disagreed with this essay up until the last paragraph. While I completely agree with Perrine's approach to determining "correct" interpretations of poetry, I don't really believe there is always a "correct" interpretation. While some poems might have a right answer to it, I believe there are some in which the author wants the reader to make their own interpretation. What specifically struck me was when Perrine said that an author should not explain their poem, or they have failed as a writer. If we don't get the right answer, how are we sure that anyone's interpretation is right? That concept confuses me. Even if someone tries to explain to me that there's always a right answer, I don't think I'll ever believe it. Humanity is so opinionated and words are so limited that there cannot always be one right answer. Even if some interpretations might be widely accepted or make sense, there could always possibly be another interpretation that makes sense.
One concept I do agree with, however, is that symbols are limited. His idea that dropping a rock in a pool will send out ripples in all directions, but with walls on the pool is spot on. With language, there are many words and phrases that mean the same thing. However, not all words mean the same thing. While there may be multiple interpretations of a symbol, it is limited in a way. Although I do not agree that there is a right interpretation, I assume my teacher thinks there is. Therefore, this artile will help me greatly. From this article I can see that I need to focus on little details such as singulars and plurals of words and sometimes not using context clues to help me decifer a poem.
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