Why????

  Poetry is complicated. I often wondered why poets mix and mash their words so that the reader can barely comprehend what the author is trying to say. Today, I have finally received my answer. Look no further than Emily Dickinson's "Tell all the truth but tell it slant."

Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —

    In this poem, Emily argues that directly delivering the truth will overwhelm the audience and should instead be told in a roundabout method. While I understood this concept, I couldn't appreciate what she was trying to say until I read one of her other poems. In her other poem, "Come slowly - Eden!," the author's intent may not be understood at first glance-

Come slowly – Eden!
Lips unused to Thee –
Bashful – sip thy Jessamines –
As the fainting Bee –
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums –
Counts his nectars –
Enters – and is lost in Balms.

    I would prefer not to delve too deep into the analysis of this poem. However, it should be mentioned that Emily Dickinson was a recluse who would rarely venture out into society. If even a poet who chose to live separately from society created poetry with such a hidden connotation, it is fair to say many others would have as well. 

    In fact, Robert Frost, well known for his poem "The Road not Taken," also wrote similar poems. His poem "Putting in the Seed" at first glance appears to be an ode to his love for raising an apple tree has a much dirtier hidden meaning. 

You come to fetch me from my work to-night 
When supper's on the table, and we'll see 
If I can leave off burying the white 
Soft petals fallen from the apple tree. 
(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, 
Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) 
And go along with you ere you lose sight 
Of what you came for and become like me, 
Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. 
How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed 
On through the watching for that early birth 
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed, 
The sturdy seedling with arched body comes 
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.

 Looking through these various examples, it seems that poets often find springtime and plants very sexually appealing. Maybe a mental disorder? Maybe some hidden aspect of their genius we will never truly understand? Nevertheless, poets hide hidden meanings so as to hide their degeneracy the full meaning for readers to interpret and make their own connections as well as to ease their thoughts on the minds of the readers without scarring them.