**TL;DR – Poetry needs syntax to function. Hearing a poem proves the association between words to be poetic.** Poetry has always been about words. So much has changed from the time of metaphysical poets and their conceits to the current wave of direct and postmodern poetry. Throughout this change, the lure to the words on the page has become more personal. Poetry is most often read quietly to yourself. I believe the nature of poetry is the work between the words on the page. Syntax takes plenty of precedence here, but the meaning and intention for understanding in a poem should be clear through words and their sound. Rhetorical devices are extremely important, but deliberately obscuring a poem for the sake of mystery does not make it more interesting. In reference to younger poets, poet Matthew Zapruder acknowledges, “The so-called effect of their poems relies on hidden meaning, keeping something away from the reader.” Hearing poetry helps to discern meaning and intermingling of the words. To restate, poetry is made by the words. Writer Josephine Hart notes that, “Poetry, this trinity of sound, sense and sensibility, to me, gives voice to experience in a way like no other literary art form,” and quotes W.B. Yeats saying that he spent his life "clearing out of poetry every phrase written for the eye, and bringing back to syntax, that is for ear alone.” Relying on words and their sound in poetry presents enough meaning in itself. Zapruder put it really well: “Coming upon a word, having it rise up out of the preconscious, intuitive dream-state and into the poem, either to begin or somewhere along the way or even, blissfully, at the end, is the special reward of being a poet, and a reader of poetry.” Allowing yourself to hear a poem bridges the experience of reading it with your acknowledgement of its poetics. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/books/review/understanding-poetry-is-more-straightforward-than-you-think.html https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2006/oct/31/thespokenwordwhypoetrysho

I think poetry can take different forms that mean it doesn’t always need to be heard. For example, there are some poems that use visual elements to demonstrate a pause or hesitation, or tumble of words due to their use of white or blank spaces, which you might not appreciate if you only heard them aloud (1). Also there are communities of deaf people who perform poetry using sign language, like the Deaf Poets Society and the ASL SLAM which is a space for American poets to perform their poems using American Sign Language (2, 3). These people experience poetry through visual expression instead of audibly and I don’t think it decreases the meaning or the power of the poems, it is just expressed in a different way. 1. http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2011/04/line-breaks-and-white-space-in-poems.html 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LZGYwDO-QE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks 3. https://youtu.be/dmsqXwnqIw4

Poetry is definitely effective when read aloud; the audience gets to hear the impact of the words just as the poet intended. However, there are many ways in which poetry can bring across more meaning when it's read quietly, similarly to the way we read them in high school English classes. This allows us to pick the poem apart and find deeper meanings, which are only visible if the poem is read individually. If a poem was read aloud, it would also be easier to forget, and you may only really remember certain words and lines which jumped out at you. Whereas, with reading it in your head, these parts of the poem would still stand out just as effectively, plus you would be able to play them in your head again, connecting them to earlier sections and looking at them more deeply in the context of the entire poem. Quite often, the poet writes with the intention of having their work performed aloud (or performing it themselves). Yet just as often, a poet would want their work published so the readers can take their time with it and analyse it, finding the implicit themes and messages in their own time. This can be much more effective than trying to think about the message the poet is trying to get across whilst listening at the same time, which isn't always easy, and can be done more thoroughly through individual close examinations.