(09-25-2012, 01:24 AM)elliottsmith Wrote: I think poems/songs can have different meaning to everyone who reads/listens to them. If you take a picture of New York City, one person who looks at it might think it looks really depressing and frightening. Whereas another person might look at it, and think about all the fun things you can do in New York. To the reader, it shouldn't really matter what the poet had in mind when writing the poem. All that matters is the feeling/meaning each reader takes away from the poem IMO.is the poet failing though, if everyone gets what he intended to say wrong?
When giving constructive feedback, obviously if you interpret someone's poem in a different way than the poet it can be hard to give advice.
at least when looking the pic of new youk most would say..oh yes, that's new york and give their opinion on what new york is.
(09-25-2012, 01:32 AM)rowens Wrote: I'm new to workshops. I've thought and wrote a lot about this subject in notebooks, for my personal use. But to specify workshop atmospheres, I think you should assume the poem is finished and every element of it is important, and then give your interpretation. If the poet disagrees, either the poet has to fix what doesn't work well: as an example, my poem "Nervous Cough" led people to a religious conclusion that was stronger than I intended, to the point where I found it necessary to change it. Or the poet can tell you enough information to see if you can accept the poem or not.i do think (specially in the serious crit and feedback forum) that the poem should be as finished as possible when posted. then we all give our feedback. it's then as you say, when the writer has to study their own poem to see what or if it needs revising. one of my problems is; i often don't see what the poet wanted me too and therefore i'm partially hog tied. sometimes it even worse. do i walk a way from a poem i have no clue about? or do i say...i didn't understand it. in doing the latter and getting a reply from the poet, am i not depriving them of their POV by having the poet taint any perceptions they may have had?