Perrine's "The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry"

The aspect of this article that I found most interesting was the quote by E. A. Robinson. He stated that "A writer should not be his own interpreter." Yeats also said that "If an author interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility." I think this is definitely a good way to approach poetry. When I wrote poetry, I always have some sort of story in my head. But the purpose of a poem is not to tell a story. Poetry should be different for each person, I think. Poetry starts as the thoughts of a poet but it is transformed into a readers own reflections.

Due to this opinion, I did not like Perrine's theory that there is an incorrect reading of a poem. I think there are a million different ways that a poem could be interpreted. It all depends on the person reading the poem. Like the quotes above state, an author does not write a poem with a specific interpretation in mind. Therefore, who has the right to say whether a reading of a poem is correct or incorrect? The only person I would give this power to is the author and the quotes contradict that. So I definitely disagree with Perrine. Poetry is personal and different for each individual.