The Effort by Billy Collins, from Writer's Almanac
Would anyone care to join me in flicking a few pebbles in the direction of teachers who are fond of asking the question:
"What is the poet trying to say?"
as if Thomas Hardy and Emily Dickinson had struggled but ultimately failed in their efforts— inarticulate wretches that they were, biting their pens and staring out the window for a clue.
Yes, it seems that Whitman, Amy Lowell and the rest could only try and fail, but we in Mrs. Parker's third-period English class here at Springfield High will succeed.
with the help of these study questions in saying what the poor poet could not, and we will get all this done before that orgy of egg salad and tuna fish known as lunch.
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I liked this and I laughed. But then, I thought again. Whether it is Mrs. Parker or me, stay loose. Listen and watch carefully. It is possible, though maybe unlikely, that the kids or one of them, will indeed see an idea, a connection, use a phrase or have a reaction to the writing that matches or exceeds what Emily Dickinson or other poets and thinkers have written. The students are alive in a world that Emily and others never knew. They may burst out in ways not foreseen, not experienced before.
I have had the job of visiting a lesson being taught and maybe making a helpful comment or two afterwards. I wouldn't be surprised if the teacher might like the way the question was asked but a slight modification, something like "What did the poet mean by saying…?" or "What does the poem mean to you?" would change the implication that the poet is inarticulate.
