The Poetic Invitation Exploring manifold experience in easy poems

Abstract

Poetry can sometimes be seen as a difficult art form available or of interest only to those who are willing to understand complex illusions and arcane language. However there are poems, that I call easy, that offer themselves to prospective readers in simple and straightforward language. I argue that while easy poems offer little resistance to the reader’s initial engagement with the text, they are as multi-layered and complex as ‘hard’ poems. This exegesis explores how a poem can be hard or easy and how easy poems can be explored seeking richness and manifold experience.