look i know its passe to like Billy Collins or whatever. i'm willing to accept that even as a fan. but when he said that the average reader thinks the poet goes through their book of rhetorical devices and says "hmm, I think I would like to sprinkle in a line of polysyndeton here to further my Themes" i just look at the average article made For Writers with a title like "Five Ways to Use Narrative Dissonance To Make Your Character More Nuanced" and sigh
ME: yeah so i agree with collins' "Introduction to Poetry" that you shouldnt beat a poem with a hose to find out what it really means, but in the defense of readers around the world it's hard to "press an ear up to its hive" or "drop a mouse into the poem and watch him probe his way out" you know? like ultimately it's okay to want or use systematic ways to read or write--
ANOTHER WRITER: Yeah so I need a good Hook to Engage My Readers while also Presenting The Preliminary Themes of the book. I think an instance of chiasmus could add musical effect while reflecting the upside-down logic of my hard magic system--
ME: put down that hose or so help me god
