Ars Poetica

Ars Poetica
By: Archibald MacLeish

The diction of the poem is rather catchy, and that keeps it interesting to read. The 1st and 2nd stanzas rhythm within themselves, like the 9th and 10th. The speaker of the poem is the narrator, and is not involved in the poem, so he acts as a 3rd person, passing down knowledge.
According to the speaker, a poem has to be palpable and mute, meaning obvious but unheard. It also has to be Dull, wordless, frozen, equal to its topic, and be something, not mean something.

What the speaker is doing is giving an outline of what he considers to be an ideal poem to the readers. According to the speaker, a poem should be similar to a picture, it can't be heard but should be plainly seen. It also has to be similar to its topic, becoming the topic. What the speaker is trying to get across is that poems are not what people make them out to be, and are in reality much more complex. They are these obviously seen things, but manage to hid in the background of life. Poems need to be wordless, and paint a picture, and must be as similar to their topics as possible, becommeing what it is written about.