Could someone explain the poem "Making Poetry" to me??? PLEASE HELP ME!?

Question

Hey, i am trying to write an essay about this poem by Anne Stevenson but i am having trouble understanding it. Please help me.

Making Poetry

‘You have to inhabit poetry
if you want to make it.’

And what’s ‘to inhabit?’

To be in the habit of, to wear
words, sitting in the plainest light,
in the silk of morning, in the shoe of night;
a feeling bare and frondish in surprising air;
familiar. . . rare.

And what’s ‘to make?’

To be and to become words’ passing
weather; to serve a girl on terrible terms,
embark on voyages over voices,
evade the ego-hill, the misery-well,
the siren hiss of publish, success, publish,
success, success, success.

And why inhabit, make, inherit poetry?

Oh, it’s the shared comedy of the worst
blessed; the sound leading the hand;
a wordlife running from mind to mind
through the washed rooms of the simple senses;
one of those haunted, undefendable, unpoetic
crosses we have to find.

thanks for your help

Answer 1

What the poem is saying:

Overall theme: One must live ("to inhabit") poetry for one to become ("to make") a good poet.

Explanation:
In order for a person to be able to create good poems, he must be able to see the sublime beauty of all things. He must live, wear, eat and breathe poetry - the ordinary things he does must have deeper meanings. he should be able to see and feel beyond what is in plain sight.

If a person can transform in words his true feelings about the beautiful things he sees around him, although these same things cannot be seen by others, then he is a successful poet. A published poet leaves a legacy for us to inherit. He has given us something really good.

But inspiration comes and goes; sometimes a poet can suffer mental block. His senses can fail him and so his words have become meaningless. He has lost his poetry.

Answer 2

First, what do you think it means? The beautiful thing about poetry is that it means different things to different people. It's open for interpretation, no interpretation is wrong when it comes to poetry because what matters is what it means to you, how does it make you feel, what do you think about when you read it, what mood is set?


‘You have to inhabit poetry
if you want to make it.’

And what’s ‘to inhabit?’

To be in the habit of, to wear
words, sitting in the plainest light,
in the silk of morning, in the shoe of night;
a feeling bare and frondish in surprising air;
familiar. . . rare.

* I think this could mean many things but to me it means to write poetry is writing what you know in any matter of speaking, feelings, something familiar, explaining something rare. It is difficult to write or to express your feelings, many things make you feel something different. Basically, to inhabit poetry is to write what you know, write what is familiar.


And what’s ‘to make?’

To be and to become words’ passing
weather; to serve a girl on terrible terms,
embark on voyages over voices,
evade the ego-hill, the misery-well,
the siren hiss of publish, success, publish,
success, success, success.
* Once again, expressing ones feelings is difficult, hence, the making of poetry. This section is describing different feelings, ego, misery, hiss of publish.


And why inhabit, make, inherit poetry?

Oh, it’s the shared comedy of the worst
blessed; the sound leading the hand;
a wordlife running from mind to mind
through the washed rooms of the simple senses;
one of those haunted, undefendable, unpoetic
crosses we have to find.

*This part describes the immense pleasure of writing poetry. Why write? Have you ever written something, a poem, and when reading it again it made you feel that certain or specific feeling or event you tried to describe.

This poem can be interpreted in many ways. Have you ever written a poem? Think about the writing, thinking and feeling process of writing a poem, that'll help with understanding this poem better.