"Our poems will have failed if our readers are not brought by them beyond the poems"

This quote by Muriel Rukeyser speaks with the power of poetry to move and influence readers. She recommends that the supreme goal of a poem is to take the reader on a journey, to bring them beyond the words on the page and into a brand-new realm of understanding. She suggests that if a poem does not have this effect, then it has actually stopped working in its function. This talks to the power of poetry to stimulate emotion and to develop a connection between the reader and the poem. It likewise recommends that the poet has an obligation to develop a meaningful experience for the reader, to take them on a journey and to help them to get a much deeper understanding of the world. Eventually, Rukeyser's quote speaks with the power of poetry to move and inspire readers, and to bring them to a brand-new level of understanding.