Intention and Critique

[vagabond]

does the poet who says “well, it’s all interpretation, man” secretly know that he’s wearing no clothes? does the critic, likewise, not want to look like an idiot for not pointing out this “apparent” fact? to be sure, the critic has a more difficult time of it than the artist, in that respect.

ps. it just occurred to me, and at the risk of contradicting something i’ve previously said, in forum criticism understanding authorial intent is essential for the relationship to work. for the critic to “help” the poet, he must understand what the poet’s up to. etc. etc. the alternative is a kind of non-perfecting pedantry. and nobody wants that.

wasn´t there a child in that story about the emperor´s new clothes? a court jester  might also expect to get away without punishment.
 
sometimes i think it can be the other way round, too. the beauty (or rather the features) of a dress may or may not be covering a body and if i am too obtuse to imagine the figure it is adorning i have a hard time commenting or maybe it is more like my comments don´t fit the purpose.
so, i also believe it is necessary to at least get a tiny idea of what the author wants to say or the feeling that should be conveyed to (attempt to) give helpful criticism. how  give advice on style without knowing if the author is going to a grunge concert or hiking in the woods or simply staying at home?

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there’s a difference between writing a poem and writing a thesis on gophers.
If poets knew their own minds well enough to understand what they were writing, they’d just write a note with fifteen bullet points.
Poetry is therapy for the writer, like free association writing, but with rules to give it the semblance of useful work. When the poet writes, he only half knows what his subconscious is trying to see.
Hence the poetry of Eliot and Dylan Thomas, and Hopkins, which seems to have layers of meaning.

So in summary, there is no intent.

can you even write a single word without intention, whether it is subconscious or conscious ?
if poems are useful work (to either the author or the reader) is another question, but i wouldn´t say they are generally only seeming so.