By analyzing “Ars Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish, I will obtain a definition of poetry that can be used to analyze other poetic pieces. I begin by looking at the structure of the poem. This poem is divided into three parts with four stanzas each. This tells me that these sections could be read independently and interpreted separately from each other. The first section uses words related to “quiet” such as silent, mute, silent, and speechless. The next part of these verses talks about something that has no meaning until we force it upon it. For example, “like old thumb lockets,” a locket is, in and of itself, worthless. It's just a piece of metal that has been engraved, that is, until he "put his thumb" on it or gave it meaning. From this I understand that the reader should find the meaning of a poem and that the poem should not directly tell you what it means. In the second section, the line "a poem should be still in time" is repeated in the beginning and end of the section. Since this line is repeated, I think the author of the poem was trying to focus it on this section. The word 'still' means not moving, or remaining still, while 'in time' implies that 'time' is changing. From this it can be seen that still in this poem also means to remain the same, or to remain consistent over time. Rather than a meaning remaining consistent over time, I think a meaning can be interpreted in the poem by readers over time. Simply put, meaning should be able to be gleaned from a poem by a reader regardless of the time period in which it is read. In the last section, the first stanza is "a poem should be the same as: but not true." A poem should not have an 'absolute' meaning, but equal... to the center of the paper... essence that is reality, than to suffer from the sound of my dreams crushed under the debilitating weight of adulthood and responsibility. But still, my imaginations burst, A single solitary desire sprouts across the salt earth Its lives and lives and long and blooms and blooms amazingly To be seen and revered by all. The anonymous poet of the poem "Lord Randal" had the greatest influence on my style. I liked how it seems serious at first, but then, while still being serious, it takes a humorous turn towards the end. I took that and wrote my poem so that at first it sounded like you would expect a poem to, but then it gets funnier as the story goes on. I also used free verse, because not being limited to the rules of how a certain type of poem is structured gives me more freedom to write the poem closer to the way I want it to be.