Easy tips for (not) paraphrasing poetry

I was diligently following a bright, clear path through the woods when all of a sudden I got dragged down a dank rabbit hole, and I would still be down there if a poet hadn't pulled me out. Let me explain:

I was in my office this morning clearing up last semester's detritus and getting caught up on e-mail when the quietness of the building inspired me to focus on a challenging task: writing a sample essay for my literary theory class. In my other literature classes I can choose from among a whole host of sample essays written by prior students, but I've never taught theory before so I thought it would be a good idea to provide a sample essay that looks more like what I expect my theory students to write.

So I chose a poem more or less at random ("Instructions to an Artisan" by Amit Majmudar) and briefly explained how the ideas of a certain literary theorist illuminate the poem. It was fun to write and I learned a few things, the most important being that I couldn't complete the assigned task in under 1200 words--and I'm a pretty concise writer. I'll have to share that information with my students, some of whom tend to quit writing the minute the word count reaches 751.

BUT!!!! While I was noodling around online to find a poem to analyze, I happened upon a long list of websites promising students easy tips for paraphrasing poetry. They all sound pretty similar: read the poem several times, focus entirely on the literal meaning of the words, and substitute each word or phrase with a word or phrase of your own. Every single site assumes that the entire meaning of a poem is conveyed through the literal meaning of its words (without regard for sound, rhythm, line length, figurative language, or any other elements of form) and that therefore it is possible to restate that "same meaning" in my own words.

Here, for instance, is some advice from one such site:

After making sure that you already know the poem's message, close your copy of the poem and try reciting it using your own words. Imagine the poem's message in your head. This way, you'll be able to have a few words of your own. This is the initial step to effectively paraphrasing the poem.

Note that this advice assumes that every poem carries a single, comprehensible "message" that can be easily grasped by the reader through the use of imagination. Okay, what kind of paraphrase does this method produce? The site offers this paragraph as an effective paraphrase of Langston Hughes's poem "I, Too":

Although the color of my skin may be different than yours, I am also like the rest of my fellowmen and you. And because we are not any different, I can also eat at the table with the company of other people. My darker complexion makes me no less beautiful than everybody else, which should make them feel sorry for treating me like less than the average individual. I am also like the rest of you.

Now that's a nice message and even an important message, but where is the poetry? If Langston Hughes had written nothing more inspired than this utterly banal paragraph, would we still be reading his work? 

The more time I spent looking at wretched paraphrases of wonderful poetry, the more I wanted to throw up. But then I reached up through the rabbit hole just in time and found a lifeline: Amit Majmudar's "Instructions to an Artisan," which reminds us that a thing of beauty can be more than the sum of its literal parts. Majmudar describes an artisan carefully constructing a crucifix from ordinary scrap materials--torn paper, burnt wood, bits of rust scraped from a can. How does a devoted artisan create the body of Christ?

                        From a wick that still whiffs of smolder,
wax, because wax sloughs a smooth skein on the fingers just
below sensation's threshold.

I could paraphrase these lines by saying "the body is made from soft wax, which feels good on the fingers," but look how much my paraphrase leaves out. Better yet, read Majmudar's lines out loud and listen to how much the paraphrase leaves out--those silken sibilants and w-sounds flow like wax through the hands, evoking a level of meaning "just / below sensation's threshold."

In his closing lines, Majmudar instructs his careful artisan, "Cry, if you feel like crying, and if no one else is there. / Then set it on the counter with your other wares"--a reminder that no matter how carefully an artisan crafts his work, no matter how much of his own flesh and tears he pours into it, the purchaser may well see it as just another kitschy knicknack carrying nothing more than a literal message. 

I suppose there are legitimate reasons to ask students to paraphrase a poem, but I hope those students will be reminded that a poem speaks through more than just the literal meaning of its words. Who will teach them to hear what's happening "below sensation's threshold"? You won't find that lesson in "Seven Easy Tips for Paraphrasing Poetry."