When I was in College, I picked a poem called "I have been one acquainted with the Night" A friend asked me what the poem was about and I told him a prostitute. He laughed and when he told me it was about the moon I laughed too.
2006-07-14 07:31:01 · 13 answers · asked by cool_in_07 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Acquainted With the Night
By Robert Frost
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain--and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-by;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
At first, it does sound much like it could be about a prostitute. The key to this poem being about the moon are these lines:
But not to call me back or say good-by;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky
Sometimes, poems must be read again and again in order to fully grasp the meaning. Sometimes, that's what makes poetry so enjoyable!
2006-07-14 09:50:57 · answer #1 · answered by Perfectly Said 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think different people can interpret poems in different ways. I'm sure that there were words in the poem to support your thought, and the same for your friend too.
I know when I took a Canadian Literature course, and we studied some poems, I was so nervous about voicing my opinion about the poems, in case I wasn't on the same wavelength as the rest of my class. I think it's just that sometimes we choose to pick up on different words and images from the rest of the world. If there were poems that had to be interpreted one way, then the poets would have to include an analysis of their work, not to leave it to our imagination.
2006-07-14 07:37:05 · answer #2 · answered by Rachel O 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One time in college we were all reading a poem about "Hard Rock" which was referring to a mean criminal in jail (which I also understood at the beginning), but I did a new twist on it and pointed out it could also have been referring to the way the musical genre of hard rock was personified. I was the only one who got a second interpretation on the poem. It mystified a couple of people, who did not come from a musical background. Many poems have subjective meanings, so it's entirely possible to get a different reading from poetry.
2006-07-14 08:02:48 · answer #3 · answered by Cookie777 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yup specifically at 2 am when I should be slumbering and then at 3 - 4 -5 and ok enable's get a cat nap so we experience quite rugged in an hour... or so and that is it yet your poem .. that's apoem and it made me giggle and then I observed an answer formerly I did answer, yet I did ... I swear i did not examine it in simple terms who wrote it and that i puzzled what number situations I surely were misinterpreted... i recognize that's on the fringe of a zillion i'm satisfied in the present day!!! Yay!
2016-10-14 11:23:04 · answer #4 · answered by groover 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, never in the history of man has anyone ever misinterpreted a poem.
2006-07-14 07:48:17 · answer #5 · answered by MDPeterson42 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think nearly everyone, including the "experts," other than the author tends to misinterpret poems. Why accept that it was about the moon???
2006-07-14 07:35:36 · answer #6 · answered by Arrow 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure. It happens and its normal.
Once, someone did a test about a text (easies than poem) and writer did not put the right answers. (!) LOL
Man, Art is one thing. People need try to not rationalize too much about it. Its bad influence from positivism. Not everything has answers..
2006-07-14 07:38:36 · answer #7 · answered by carlos_frohlich 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not possible to misinterpretate the poem or anything on condition you support why you think in one or another way. So i havent because i always support my statements
2006-07-14 07:54:03 · answer #8 · answered by Solveiga 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is no wrong way to interpret a poem everybody feels differently. Even from week to week if you read the same poem you interpret it differently.
2006-07-14 07:36:51 · answer #9 · answered by katie t 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yep, on my exam for my MA (think prelims in a PhD program) -- it sucked because I felt like a fraud but I ended up doing okay (I can't remember the poem but the title was a Greek god and I had no idea who he was until after the exam -- I felt so stupid!)
2006-07-14 07:38:24 · answer #10 · answered by PrincessBritty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋