Common House Magazine

Issue:

The affected products are being recalled from the marketplace due to possible misinterpretation by the general public. It is important to employ caution and to be judicious when consuming a poetic interpretation, especially if you have not yet read the poem itself. Signs of poetic misinterpretation include the following:

• A statement that the poem has only a single possible meaning (and that this single meaning is the one put forth by the author of that statement)

• Quotation of a single line or stanza to support an interpretation, especially when accompanied by a suspicious lack of willingness to discuss other portions of the poem or the context that they may provide, in particular the surrounding lines/stanzas

• An irrational and otherwise unsupported insistence that any portion of the poem that contradicts their interpretation is itself being misinterpreted

• Seeing poetry where it is not OR insisting that something that clearly is a poem is not 

  • Please note that, especially in cases of genre-bending and experimentation, this point can be difficult to establish. However, to test the general validity of an interpreter’s poetic judgement, you may ask them whether or not this text is a poem

• An interpretation based on and supported by an element that is clearly not in the text despite the interpreter’s claims that it is, regardless of whether this element has been arrived at by an over-elongated string of associative thinking or a purely fanciful leap on the part of the interpreter

What you should do:

• Check to see if you have any of the recalled products. If you are uncertain about whether or not you have a recalled product, please call or head to your nearest bookstore to see under which genre the work in question has been stocked

• If you think you have read, heard, or otherwise consumed a recalled product, avoid attempting an interpretation. If you believe that you have consumed a misinterpretation, DO NOT share it, and critically examine it immediately. It is of the utmost importance that these actions be performed in a timely manner to prevent further contamination and the spread of misinformation

• Do not read, quote, sell, present, discuss, post about on social media, or otherwise distribute recalled products or their interpretations

• Do not use these products as inspiration for your own work

• Recalled products should be shredded, thrown out, burned, or returned to the location where they were purchased for proper disposal

Poetry may not look or sound harmful, but it can still make you sick. Poems can be misinterpreted by anybody, but obstinate, willfully ignorant, or otherwise intractable people are particularly at risk for misinterpreting a poem, as are young children, teenagers, and other impressionable or optimistic groups. Those around them, especially teachers and literary critics, may experience short-term effects of anger, frustration, or sadness upon witnessing these misinterpretations. Long-term effects of misinterpretation include the feeling of being wronged upon discovery that the poem’s intended meaning does not match the one you forced onto it, permanent excessive scrutiny or over-examination of literary texts, and disillusionment.

Learn more:

• Learn more about the risks (and risk moments) of poetry

• Report a possible misinterpretation

• Submit a statement in defense of a suspected misinterpretation

• View our detailed and ongoing investigation of the literary scene

• Report a concern with a non-poetic text