Analysis on Ars Poetica
In Ars Poetica, Archibald Macleish conveys his philosophy that poetry is not solely words but an emotional, sensory experience unique to each individual reader. ... The use of similes in Ars Poetica helps the reader, identify with the poem personally and relate to MacLeish’s feelings about poetry. ... While many similes are used in “Ars Poetica” to clarify the reader they also give a more in depth meaning to poetry and reemphasizes MacLeish’s main theme. ... The universal emotions of “grief” and “love” expressed in “Ars Poetica” are words that suggest experiences and allude to details that poems can entice. ... MacLeish builds huge paradoxes in “Ars Poetica” as he plays upon individual emotion in his poem and yet fails to grasp what he says cannot be defined through words.