Tact and Poetry

"Tact acknowledges the diversity of poetry. A tactful approach to a poem must be appropriate to the special nature of the poem under consideration. Reading a poem for the first time ought to be a little like meeting a person for the first time. An initial exploratory conversation may lead to friendship, dislike, indifference, or any of dozens of other shades of attitude from love to hate. If the relation progresses, it will gain in intimacy as surface politeness is replaced by exchange of ideas and feelings at a deeper level."

FROM: Elements of Literature: Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Film by Robert Scholes, Carl H. Klaus, Michael Silverman; Oxford University Press (1978)