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8/9/2020 2 Comments

Reader Input

One of the challenges in reading poetry is the requirement of participation.  The work is not all done for you.  A poem of Philip Larkin's shows how the imagination of the reader can vary the images.  Each reader provides the look of the doctor, the priest.                                 
                              
                                  ​Days

                 What are days for?
                 Days are where we live
                They come, they wake us
                 Time and time over.
                  Days are to be happy in:
                  Where can we live but days/

                  Ah, solving that question
                  Brings the priest and the doctor
                  In their long coats
                  Running over the fields.

                   Philip Larkin
                   Collected Poems
                   
Farrar, Straus  &  Giroux
                   1989                      
2 Comments
Doris Wyatt link
9/15/2020 02:31:02 pm

a new way of saying that reader's often have different viewpoints.
These viewpoints determine the content of the poem.

Reply
Anne Banks
12/19/2020 08:34:27 pm

The priest who comes running would try to solve the metaphysical question of how the days exist, not allowing them to simply be, which seems to be what the poet wants.

Reply



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    Neva Herrington

    Neva Herrington is a poet and former educator. She is currently working on a new book of poetry, a collection of short stories, and her memoir. Her inspiration comes from her own experience and the work of other poets.

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