COMPOSITION STUDIES BY DIANE K. OLSON, PHD, WRITING, TEACHING AND CRITICISM

True poetry and prose have feelings to them -- texts and textual analysis commonly do not.  And this whole thing with "rigor" -- which comes linguistically from the same root as "rigid" -- is that it, too, is antithetical to feelings, as well, and actually tries to control feelings and numb them.  That apparently is the intention of rigorous, textual analysis -- to squelch the feelings of the reader and the writer that went into the creation and then the interpretation/perception of the poetry and prose by reducing  them to objective, clinical texts.  More even yet ... sincerely, dr diane k olson