# How to Like Poetry ![rw-book-cover](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!70ZE!,w_1200,h_600,c_fill,f_jpg,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a19e2f7-3bd4-46b2-acb2-e1ad2a4fde47_814x766.png) ## Metadata - Author: [[Isaac Kolding]] - Full Title: How to Like Poetry - Category: #articles - Summary: insert summary - My notes: - Summary: Many people find poetry boring because it confuses them and demands a different kind of attention. - Source File: web-only Kolding says the cure is to stay with the confusion, make playful guesses, and assume the poem is worth that effort. Reading poetry trains your attention and lets you actively create meaning, making the world feel richer. - URL: https://amateurcriticism.substack.com/p/how-to-like-poetry?r=48ea6r&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true ## LLM Chats ## NotebookLM ## LLM Audio ## Highlights > Imagine that you are being chased by a cougar across the rim of the Grand Canyon. You would be surrounded by breathtaking beauty, but you wouldn’t even notice it. > Now imagine that you are Mr. Moneybags, a rapacious mining executive. Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, your eyes would seek out streaks of blue and green on the rock faces: telltale signs of copper. You would see the Canyon not as an object of beauty or contemplation but as something that could be used. > Now imagine that you are a tourist standing comfortably at the edge of the Grand Canyon. You’ve looked at plenty of landscape paintings and photographs, and you’ve been influenced by conservationist writing and thought that teaches us to see nature as beautiful, fragile, and deserving of great respect. The more you know about the Canyon and its ecosystem, the more you might be able to see its nuances and delicate details. As an informed, appreciative observer, you might look at the Canyon patiently, for a long time, with a sense of awe. > The point is: to perceive beauty, you have to pay attention in a particular way, even if the thing you’re looking at is pretty much indisputably beautiful.[1](https://amateurcriticism.substack.com/p/how-to-like-poetry?r=48ea6r&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true#footnote-1-172912948) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k706xa0zphzdermkqs1a4rkq))