Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

When I first read your introduction [“q&a,” April 2010], I was immediately drawn in by T.S. Eliot’s observation that a poem “can communicate before it is understood.” As an mfa student who favors lyric poetry, I found Eliot’s idea refreshing. The disappointment that followed, then, hit hard. The poets’ explanations of their work completely broke the spell their music had cast on me, and I found most of the poems uninteresting and rant-ish afterward. Art should be strong enough to stand alone. It was a bit insulting to have it explained.