Who is to say what these authors meant
When they wrote their novels, their poems and plays?
The English student is never content
Until everything’s decoded, every word, every phrase.
But why do we do this? We can’t know the author’s mind
The authors would be appalled by the meanings we’ve assigned.
It seems we work backwards: we think of points first,
Then we twist words and phrases to mean what we need.
We mould and we bend, we deform and coerce
And words that don’t fit, we dismiss and don’t read.
Look deeply enough and you’ll find some support
For any idea, just remember: distort!
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