My way of rephrasing the quote “Reading a poem is part attitude and part technique” is “Read a poem with an open mind to truly interact with it.”
Before reading “How To Read a Poem” by Edward Hirsch, I always read poetry trying to find the meaning behind it immediately. I guess it is my impatient nature to want to be able to properly understand the abstraction behind more difficult poems. After reading the essay by Hirsch, I attempted to approach the sonnets in a different, less preconceived manner.
The last poem “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” was the most successful for me to read in this nonjudgmental way. I read it twice to myself and twice aloud. While reading it, I asked myself of the qualities of the poem; including what is the rhythm? How is imagery used? One of the first things I noticed was the use of imagery to create a hauntingly lonely atmosphere. For example,
“Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain” (Millay, lines 3-6)
Each time reading it, I absorb more of the speaker’s mood and how she feels about the lovers of the past she is referencing. It inspires me to ask, is the narrator just somber in her solitude or does she long for a new love?
