According to Randall Jarrell -

"...with an attitude that is a mixture of sharp intelligence and of willing emotional empathy, at once penetrating and generous".

Agree?

I always consider the maxim...

"you can often read poetry too fast but you can never read it too slow".

oh
yes
you
can

For a minute I got your question confused with how you should perform poetry which is a completely different subject matter. I see reading as a more personal thing - between the page and oneself - so the relevance of the question is less resounding to me.

I guess we should approach poetry with an open mind - is that where generosity comes in? It obviously helps to be intelligent and empathetic but you have to be prepared for disappointment - some poetry doesn't look to be understood or to inspire an emotional response. Maybe that's where my idea of sharp intelligence and the poet's conception of it diverge...

It's like being with a beautiful woman, or man come to that. You have to take your time to savour each sweaty drop.

Rodney- You obviously knew my Grandfather.

Gus is totally having an off the wall kind of an evening! Reading poetry? God! It's brilliant - then I fall asleep! Reminds me of . . . something . . .

1) Don't expect a poem to give up its treasures immediately.

2) Unlike Isobel, I think all poems are capable of being understood and giving an emotional response - even the wildly experimental - but some poems require an approach more akin to listening to music or looking closely at abstract art.

3) I don't think anyone entirely approaches a poem with an open mind. We all have an idea about what a poem "ought" to look like or do; what's interesting about experimental writing, for me, is how far you can go in deviating from that norm.

4) Sometimes, you have to put a poem aside and say, "I'm not ready for that."

I think Mr Jarrell is spot on with his observation. That quality of poetry reading doesn't just 'happen'; it takes dedicated practice with one's own work as well as with other people's poems. Reading aloud the poems of others should be a required daily exercise, to hone the aural sensitivity to your own work. The words must roll through your mouth effortlessly before you can colour them with emotion. Excessive emotion, however sincere, sounds foolish because it engulfs the power of the words. The only way to balance language, music and emotion is rehearsal, until you feel, you know, you have a particular interpretation of the poem. The next reading, you may choose to tilt interpretation into an new aspect of meaning, entirely by intonation or stress of words. IMO, a good poet thrills to read any good poem aloud. Also, a person who hasn't the least bent to commit a poem to hard copy can be a brilliant reader, but that reader still responds 'soulfully' to poetical intuition and inherent 'word music'.