Is it bad if I'm reading poetry with zero knowledge on 'how'

Of course you're going to be missing things if you're not familiar with the technical details and meaning. Anyone can enjoy poetry just by listening to it (or reading it), but if you want a greater appreciation about it you need to analyze it, just like any other work of literature.

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>>8605335
just write from your heart bb
truth is your structure and love is your theory

>>8605335
Most analysis of written works is just intellectual masturbation on the part of the critic anyways.
Unless you think picking apart how almost certainly coincidental tidbits about the structure of a poem betray some deep meaning the author never actually even thought about, what you're doing is fine.

I'd even argue you're making the world a better place.

>>8605374
>>8605428
Well, this is comforting.

>>8605341
I might look into this regardless just for the sake of "you have to know the rules in order to break them". Is there any canon on reading poetry you might recommend?

If you're writing it, you already know how to do it. Just learn to do it well by reading other poets.

>I'm not much for. learning the technicalities of the craft

lol ok lemme put it this way
you'll be looking at the poem the same way a normal person looks at a well designed car or a monumental piece of architecture. you'll see a mclaren or a ferrari and think wow thats pretty and it goes fast. Or maybe you'll look at a brutalist building and think, wow thats blocky and drab.

my point is, sure, anyone with no knowledge of poetry can enjoy a poem, whether it's for how pretty it sounds or the emotions it invokes. there's nothing wrong with that at all.

However, will you ever notice a poet's skill at fusing action and metrical variation? Will you ever notice how the poet has interwoven every aspect of poetic texture to create a result that expresses not only artistic skill and ingenuity, but a deep understanding of what makes a man feel? Will you ever even be able to tell the good from the bad?

So, are you happy with being a tourist in poetry? I mean no offense, as it's perfectly understandable. I know poetry can still give you feeling at that level, as I experienced it myself many years ago. However, as my knowledge of poetry increased, so did my pleasure when reading a well crafted work. Dunno tho bub, up 2 u.

It's fine, but if it something you like I would think taking a perusing at a poetry handbook should be enjoyable

>>8605444

Please don't fall for somebody saying that analysis of literature is masturbatory; he is just a dilettante. Read something like the Oresteia and then read analyses of it and you'll see that analysis goes far beyond finding coincidences the author didn't consider.

>>8605428
you don't write poetry, or at least don't write it well

>>8605444
Structuring is hugely important.

>>8605502
i dont accept your value judgments at face value. post some stuff you think is "well-crafted" that a layman might miss

Hey OP,
what you're doing is fine.

But you should find a copy of "How Does a Poem Mean?"

It's a wonderful, realistic, logical introduction to appreciating poetry. Most undergraduates in college used to read it. I think it has fallen out of favor now but is still great.