The Interpretation of Poetry

My first class at FAU was called "The Interpretation of Poetry" with the inimitable (and late) professor H. P. I remember (vaguely) three poems from that class (not counting the obligatory Wasteland).

They were:

The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams

Bantams in Pinewoods by Wallace Stevens
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bantams-in-pine-woods/

Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats.
http://www.online-literature.com/yeats/781

I had quite a thing for Yeats - more of an after the fact celebrity thing than anything literary - especially concerning his girlfriend Maud Gonne. I was shocked to see that movie called No Country for Old Men after Yeats’ poem Sailing to Byzantium (I just reread it as I'm writing this and am blown away). I couldn't see the movie especially since it was based on Cormac McCarthy - I read The Road. That was so traumatic that I left my copy at the DeCordova. Probably not a good thing to do - someone may have picked it up and become traumatized as well.

I got a C in the class.