Attendance at poetry reading cannot be a substitute for reading poetry on the page though it can be an enjoyable and instructive adjunct To hear good poets read their work aloud even if they are not accomplished public speakers is a valuable guide as to where the precise emphases are to be placed but it is desirable that the audience should either follow the reading with the text before them or have a prior knowledge of the poems being spoken The principal justification for popular recitals of poetry where the readings are sometimes interspersed with musical items jazz and poetry used to be a very popular mixture is that audiences will come to associate poetry with pleasure and not feel that it is an art available only to an initiated minority 