Genuine Poetry
Moore has no time for poetry that is concerned merely with impressing people, or relies too much on artificial, trivial subject matter. Poetry needs to be genuine to be worthwhile, and that genuineness can be found in quotidian things rather than things that are idealized. The "Hands that grasp, eyes / that can dilate" and the "elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll" are all authentic, raw, instinctual images that make poetry relatable and relevant. Poems ought not be derivative, Moore counsels; critic Maureen Mills writes, "Moore also demands that the subject be firmly grounded in reality, that the images, sounds, and rhythms mirror life as people know it, in all its 'rawness.' By 'rawness' the poet means both the data of life and the recognition that life is not ideal, that there is much ugliness but that poetry is certainly no sermon to proclaim high moral values. The raw material—that is, the data—should find its way into an artistic structure which is the poet’s own particular 'garden' of impressions, of feelings, of ideas absorbed in a given time and place—that is, the 'imaginary garden' which is created by the art of poetry. It must be honest, and it must be 'genuine.'
Role of the Reader
Moore doesn't expect readers of poetry to be complacent consumers of the medium; rather, she expects them to be more discerning as to what they read. In her ironic, conversational tone she suggests that they read with "contempt," that they eschew "high-sounding interpretation" and delve into verse that is raw and genuine. They need to avoid "half poets" and "autocrats," and remain open to all sorts of material such as "business documents and // school-books." Finally, if they are to truly be "interested in poetry" they must make it known by demanding something authentic, defying critical opinions and "triviality."
