interpretation

People bring to a poem what they want. And probably not just with a poem. With anything in the world, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we used to say. And sorrow is in the eye of the beholder, probably. People always interpret a poem in terms of their own experience, which is unavoidable, and I don't think it necessarily presents a difficulty. But it's a fact. I get reactions to my poems ... because somebody has applied his or her past and judgment and imagination to a poem. And it's not the same as mine; how could it be?

-- Hayden Carruth