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The word “means” originally came down to us from the Old English word “maenen,” which meant “to have in mind.”

Any poem has meaning and many poems have different levels of meaning. In asking the question, “What does this poem mean?” don’t let anyone, no matter how “well versed” they are, tell you that you are wrong in your interpretation of a poem. Interpretation is the meaning that the poem conveys to you. It accounts for the feelings created in you through the conveyed meaning.

On the other hand, you simply cannot scan a poem or quick-read it at a cursory level to get at the full intended meaning of the poet. Interpreting poetry implies that we are reading it at a deeper level than most literature. After all, most poets try to pack mountains of meaning in each and every word of their poetry to distinguish it from prose.

That suggests that there usually is a disconnect between what a poem means to us and fully ascertaining what the poet might mean through the poem, unless we are reading the poem at a deeper level. We need to see the poem’s explicit and literal meaning, but also try to get at what is being implied in the poem or what might perhaps be left intentionally unsaid by the poet.

As we seek to interpret the meaning of any poem, we should be asking ourselves a lot of questions, such as...

“What is the poem doing?”

“Why did the poet use that particular word or that line break?”

“What is the sound or rhythm of the poem? What is its music?”

“What feelings do I think the poet is trying to evoke?”

Among several other questions.

The poem is usually expressing and implying some things. But what? Poems most often convey meaning through a personal/universal dynamic; the life experiences, personal observations, or individual thoughts of the poet will resonate with our own. But we are not always totally in touch with these at a surface level. Therefore, in ascertaining and interpreting any poems meaning, we always should be allowing deep to speak to deep.

Michael Hickey is a local writer and poet who lives in Pelican Bay and Swampscott, Mass. His new book, “Get Wisdom,” is published by Xlibris Div. Random House Publishing and is available at 1-888-795-4274 Ext. 822, at www.Xlibris.com, or your local bookstore. E-mail Mike Hickey at Mikehic@nii.net.

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The Iceberg

by Michael Hickey

The truly present human,

Is capable of but two things;

One is love and it is primal,

To knowledge that life brings.

There is much I don’t know,

Icebergs only shows their tips,

On the vastness of the ocean,

Floats this tiniest of ships.

My little boat sails along,

Bobbed and tossed about,

It never has a problem,

If it keeps the water out.

If I accept the limitations,

Imposed by my humanity,

Knowing, I don’t know,

Preserves my fragile sanity.

The love I have is less,

Than the love which I show,

My unloving much greater,

‘Neath the surface way below.

I believe that there exists,

The God of my unknowing,

What I know, I only know;

And this from what He’s showing.

The vastness of His knowledge,

Kept from me by God above,

He shows how much He knows,

In the depths of His love.