Any lover of Shakespeare, or of the Romantic poets, can concede that poetry is pleasurable. But is it good for us, and can it teach us anything?

These questions may seem odd, but they have beguiled and engaged eminent critics for millennia. What we call literary criticism is really a debate over a few key questions: What is poetry's wellspring? God? Nature? The human self? Is poetry superfluous to human progress? Are the literary arts a vehicle to higher truths or a pack of lies? Is the author a divinely inspired rhapsode or a mere artisan, "manufacturing" meaning?