What is the poet's responsibility regarding references to famous persons etc.?

[Barbara Jean]

Sometimes we write "in the know" of famous people, events or cultures that our readers have never heard of. On the one hand, I think a conscientious reader would go and try to find out if there was something they did not "get." I certainly try to.

But I am still concerned with how much "research" I should expect my reader to do.

What does everyone think? How can we make sure the reader is pointed in the right direction?

I suspect the answer is not the same for famous people and events compared to cultural references.

It seems to me a cultural reference would be harder to identify. But I am unsure.

[earthshoes]

Originally posted by Toklas:
Sometimes we write "in the know" of famous people, events or cultures that our readers have never heard of. On the one hand, I think a conscientious reader would go and try to find out if there was something they did not "get." I certainly try to.

But I am still concerned with how much "research" I should expect my reader to do.

What does everyone think? How can we make sure the reader is pointed in the right direction?

I suspect the answer is not the same for famous people and events compared to cultural references.

It seems to me a cultural reference would be harder to identify. But I am unsure.



This has happened to me as a poet a couple of times. I've learned that including a brief,italicized footnote helps emmensely.
Personally, I enjoy doing the research sometimes required to fully understand a particular work, but not everyone does.

[JohnBoddie]

Write the poem and spell the name correctly. If it's a well-written poem, readers will do the research.

JB