Meandering and Pondering...in a poncy, ponderous way

Am I blissfully grateful that folkseses 'round these parts will actually bother to read things that I find thought provoking? Hell yeah...And it's good for me to try and think through comments that reveal why some one else found something I found thought provoking, thought provoking for an entirely different reason. Case in point, Rhiannon's response to the Mark Strand essay.

 From her comments- Strand's words led her down the path of examining a reader's initial response to something. I base this on her comment, "For me, this raises an old chicken-and-egg question. Certainly one's analysis of a poem is colored by initial response...Might not Strand have analyzed the poem differently if it had first viscerally hit him in a different way? Of course poetic analysis can never be objective...and shouldn't be."  And in thinking about the question she poses, I'd have to agree- of course, Strand might have analyzed Marvell's work differently if it had "viscerally" hit him in a different way. But for me, the key element of the essay remains, his ability to analyze and identify why it hit him differently. His initial response to the work was clarified over time with study, scholarship, and reflection. His ability to articulate why the poem moved him was also clarified and refined. And that refinement and clarity paralleled his own growth as a writer. His ability to recognize all the tools in the arsenal available to communicate how the poem effectively connected with him viscerally, enables him to bring those tools to his own work. In other words, being able to clearly articulate, identify, and support the response to someone else's stuff is ultimately not only going to help anyone become a better reader, but also a better writer. And for me, all of that is part of the reason to participate in a community like this one. ( Which I suppose means, I really should get off my ass and start commenting on people's poems...sigh)

or something like that....

that's my thoughts for today.