Allen Tate: Tension in Poetry

In his essay, 'Tension on Poetry', Tate talks about a distinct quality in all good poems, ehich he calls tension. He gives several examples of good and bad poetry to state his case.

Tate describes tension as a special metaphor derived by cutting off the prefixes of the terms 'intension' & 'extension'. He says that the meaning of poetry is its tension; a full organized body of all extensions and intensions that we can find in it.

The meaning that we derive at different points between extreme intension and extreme extension depends on our personal drives, approaches and interests.