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helen frances >difference between "understanding contemporary poetry" and the experience (if I may use the word largely) of reading poems. is this the difference between knowing a thing and understanding it seems to me that grasping that difference is only one stage on the way along which later steps are knowing that you know very little and later still that you understand nothing there are - to me - unacceptable versions of this eg that a good poem has to be laid down like wine and you cant tell for years re quality etc etc and more overtly political versions BUT they are per_versions of it, I think... there is a remark by someone about getting to the end of literature... that was I think out of the kings and queens view of history & referred to ENGLISH lit & I remember at one time thinking yes, it's true, one can get to the end of it but there is always another peak if you like the ascent metaphor or another view or another day and more importantly _the end_ implies that you have seen all that there is to be seen - the selection of materials known as lit is not stated to be a selection to that knowing contemporary poetry includes a knowledge of what is hidden and where and why and THAT implies understanding of mechanisms that may have very little to do with poetry as poetry UNDERSTANDING of a poem text performance whatever is perhaps being able to give - from yourself - a useful context for what one knows... and THAT leads on to realising AGAIN that you don't know enough - and the context is not only poetical whatever that means but of necessity social and political and one comes to understand that poetry is not to be separated from the social / political - and yet remaining responsive rather than aggressive or panicked or confused - seems to me that too often poems are lauded because they are RECOGNISABLE as if all the learning had been done and the rest is revisiting - when silence is preferable often - the "Poetry Please" of Radio 4 kind of thing Lawrence %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%