The reason for poetry

"There is no direct address in literature: it isn't what you say but how it's said that's important there. The literary writer isn't giving information, either about a subject or about his state of mind: he's trying to let something take on its own form, whether it be a poem or play or novel or whatever... That's also why it's no use telling the poet that he ought to write in a different way so you can understand him better." (p24)

I never thought about poetry this way. I was always frustrated when it came to reading poems because I could never comprehend what they were trying to get across. It makes sense now because what Frye is saying is that it's how someone words things to express or convey certain themes that intrigue people and make them want to read it. If someone were to write about love or sadness or happiness and just said 'I am very happy' there is no point in reading it or writing it in the first place. Frye is saying that poets allow themselves to step outside of the box and use their imagination for the poem to "take on its own form." Maybe the reason we find that a lot of poems don't make sense because of people's state of mind behind the poem. Last year in English class was a perfect example when we did the train of thought writing. People's thoughts would stretch from the homework they had to do or the fact that they missed the bus that morning to what they were going to have for dinner. People's thoughts are always jumbled and trying to sort that out and control it would be impossible. It's possible that due to this confusion it comes across in the literature we read.