Robert Frost didn't like to explain his poems-and for good reason: to explain a poem is to suck the air from its lungs. This does not mean, however, that poets shouldn't talk about their poetry, or that one shouldn't ask questions about it. Rather, it suggests that any discussion of poetry should celebrate its ultimate ineffability and in so doing lead one to further inquiry. I think of that wonderful scene from Elie Wiesel's memoir, , where Mosche the Beadle of the local synagogue, in dialogue with the young, precocious author, explains: "Every question possesses a power that does not lie in the answer.
( Tony Leuzzi )
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