Different Interpretations of "Not About Poems" by Carolyn Rodgers
For reference, this poem, presented by Cadi, is on page 17 of the Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry
In class, we discussed how “Not About Poems” could be talking about a poet writing a poem. We said perhaps the poet is a lonely poet and thus every poem they write is inherently lonely as well. The lines “i can write about almost anything— // but a lonely poem ain’t got / no audience” (Rodgers 17-19). Could potentially be hinting at this point but are somewhat ambiguous. Is the lonely poem “about almost anything” or is it just that the poet chooses to write lonely poetry, distinct from those ideas discussed in the verse preceding it. Obviously, even asking what seems to be a simple question, that of “what makes a poem lonely”, is incredibly ambiguous. Here I want to focus on some more intense ambiguity in the poem and some potential interpretations. In the final lines of the poem, Rodgers writes “i say / oh say / can you hurt? // who needs me…” (25-28). There are three interpretations of these lines that I find intriguing.
First, “i”, the poet talking to “you”, the poem. In this reading, the narrator asks the poem if it hurts (which is not to say does it feel pain, but does it cause pain). In essence, the narrator asks the poem if it is in fact a lonely poem. It is ambiguous if this is a meta-question proposed to this poem, “Not About Poems”, or a poem that we as readers cannot see. From this interpretation, I believe the final line of “who needs me…” can also be assumed to be the poet talking. The poet, having written a lonely, painful-to-read poem, is lonely and feels unwanted.
A second reading sees “i” as the poet speaking to “you” the reader. This interpretation is itself also ambiguous (I know, I’m doing a great job answering questions here). Asking “can you hurt?” as a question could mean “is it possible for you to feel pain”. That message can be roughly interpreted to mean “are you reading this lonely poem without realizing it is a lonely poem, without reading into its pain and feeling it along with the poem? Are you merely reading it on a surface level?” Alternatively, “can you hurt” could be read a request, “would you please feel pain”. In this form, the poet instead asks the reader to interact with the poem, to fall into its suffering. The reading of the final line is very similar to the first interpretation. However, I see the poet as hoping and reaching out for a genuine connection here instead of merely feeling ashamed of their writing as in the first.
My third and final interpretation of these lines follows either the first or second assignments of “I” and “you”, however, the final line of “who needs me…” instead comes from the poem itself. This poem is the lonely poem. A poem that “ain’t got / no audience” (18-19). This line questions the purpose of the poem itself. Although does the fact that we read and discussed this poem, and that I’m writing a blog post about it contradict this idea? After all, it does have an audience clearly. Perhaps the poem is asking what its purpose is? Why was this poem written?
Well, unfortunately, I’ve managed to answer exactly 0 questions here and just raised some additional ones. Perhaps you have your own personal thoughts on the ambiguity in this poem? Or maybe you think my interpretations are completely crazy and this is a very straightforward poem. Let me know what you think!
P.S. From a previous line, the phrase “(can you hurt)”, especially the lack of a question mark, is also very interesting in this discussion (22).
I think the way that you are able to find such different meanings in these short phrases says a lot about the way that this poem relies on the reader to complete it. For this reason, I am very interested in your third interpretation, where you highlight the ways that the poem cannot be lonely because we engage with it as readers. I have no idea what the answers to your questions are though.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not alone in seeing the ambiguity of the poem, and I also have no idea how to answer those questions (obviously, seeing as I wrote them). When discussing poetry, I often think back on the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins (I believe I've read in at least 3 English classes at this point) and how it says that we shouldn't beat the meaning out of poetry—ironic that we read that poem before moving on to analyze poetry for a unit. Maybe it's alright to leave it ambiguous, to leave the questions unanswered. Maybe that's what makes poetry, poetry. (Fun philosophical thoughts on poetry with Doren)
DeleteOh sorry, here's a link to Billy Collins' poem. I forgot to paste it: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46712/introduction-to-poetry
DeleteI really, really love your blog post and all of the interpretations that you present! It was fascinating to read! Truly. I also think bringing up even more questions is perfect and makes the poem more fun! And it definitely made me revisit and grasp this poem a little better than before, answering my questions or confusions about it. Really liked reading Collins' poem too.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I think that I interpreted the ending lines similar to how you did in the first interpretation discussed here. The poet is sort of talking to the poem and simply feeling bad about themselves in the end and feels lonely/unwanted. However, I think my favorite interpretation that you present is the second one (though all three are really great!). I like this idea of the poet trying to reach out to the readers-- it sort of symbolizes trying to “combat” the loneliness of the poet as human connection would be the exact opposite. I particularly thought that the idea of the “can you hurt” being a request was compelling! I think it makes complete sense and fits in well with the rest of the poem. As you discuss, the poet could be searching for this connection. The poet seems aware that lonely poems get “no audience,” so I think this interpretation of trying to find other people who can relate and feel through this poem, in a question form (not being certain or declarative about it), is very powerful and goes with its central theme.
I am also still very confused by this poem and why it was written and why it has an audience if it’s not supposed to have an audience, and maybe this means it’s not even a lonely poem at all? I’m really not sure! But because of this, I think I enjoy it even more.
Thank you so much! (And oops oh no, sorry for the extremely long, rambly, and confusing comment! This definitely did not help answer any questions haha)
Excellent blog post once again!
I love your post and all the interpretations you propose, and I don't mind at all that you don't really "answer" any questions, I think it's good to stir up different readings of the poem and that's what makes discussions of poems so interesting. Personally, on my very first reading of the poem, I had an interpretation that was like a fusion of the first and second ones you propose. "I" is the poet, "you" is the reader, and "can you hurt" is asking the reader, "please hurt". But I still read it as an almost shameful plea on the part of the author - please hurt, reader, so I can feel validated about my poem, so I can feel as if I have written something that can truly touch people - otherwise, if you do not hurt, if my writing has not reached you, "who needs me...".
ReplyDelete