how can poetry offer comfort and solace beyond the confines of the time in which it was written?

Answer 1

Because poety deals with feelings and emotions, which are ageless. A person in love in the 1700's feels the exact same as a person in love now.

Answer 2

A good poetry is the result of a sensation or a deep feeling when encountering an extraordinary situation. The poet translates these feelings and sensations to words and sentences.
The power of these words bring the reader to the same sensations as felt by the poet.
The poetry stores inside the words and sentences the fire and enthusiasm of the poet. The power of the poetry is therefore beyond the time and space.

Answer 3

All poetry is read in a different time & place than it was written.

The "best" poetry resonates with the reader; they feel what the poet felt, and for that moment, there is a dissolving of the seperation of time & distance that humans feel with each other for their whole lives. That's what captures the imagination about poetry - that moment of identification with someone or some feeling not of "our own origin". In that moment, the self disappears, & just the trancendence of the feeling remains.

;-)

Answer 4

The human condition has not changed much even though the trappings of our lives may have. Basic emotions and still the same....