Final answer:
The poem "Breathing Fire" is an example of how poetry breathes life into words through careful structuring that influences the reader's pace and emotions, intricately connecting the oral art form with the vivid imagery of a horse's fiery essence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The poem "Breathing Fire" is intricately connected to the idea that poetry is an oral art that comes alive when read aloud, with lines guiding our breath, pace, emphasis, and silence much like sheet music. As we delve into poetry, we find that the lengths of lines profoundly affect our reading experience, with longer lines prompting a longer breath and shorter lines necessitating a quicker one, creating different rhythms and emotional responses in the reader. Similar to how Robinson Jeffers' poem The Eye and Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl demonstrate the influence of line length on breath, the poem "Breathing Fire" aims to evoke the energy and mythical essence of a horse in motion through careful word choice and structure, forming a connection with the imagery of power and freedom.
Through reading poetry and connecting with its imagery and structure, readers breathe in what the poet breathes out, thereby engaging with the poet's mental experience. This immersive connection transforms the act of reading into a shared experience, where emotions and sensations are evoked through the poet's mastery of words and images. Renowned professor Jeremy Arnold likens poetry to the pensieve from the Harry Potter series, as it allows outsiders to access mental experiences as if they were their own, suggesting the powerful impact that poetry can have in shaping perspectives and creating experiences.