The Elusiveness of Poetic Meaning

Various aspects of poetic meaning are discussed, centred on the relation of form and content. A C Bradley's thesis of form‐content identity, suitably reformulated, is defended against criticisms by Peter Kivy. It is argued that the unity of form‐content is not discovered in poetry so much as demanded of it when poetry is read ‘as poetry’. A shift of emphasis from talking about ‘meaning’ in poetry to talking about ‘content’ is promoted, as is a more prominent role for ‘experience’ in characterising responses to poetry and its value. It is argued that the key to poetic meaning lies less in a theory of meaning, more in a theory of poetry, where what matters are modes of reading poetry. Content‐identity in poetry is said to be ‘interest‐relative’ such that no absolute answer, independent of the interests of the questioner, can determine when a poem and a paraphrase have the same content. Interpretation of poetry need not focus exclusively on meaning, but on ways in which the experience of a poem can be heightened.