In a dark auditorium at Wayland Middle School, over two hundred attendees held their breath as speaker Robert Pinsky approached the podium. Pinsky, a Boston University professor and former national poet laureate, is the author of 19 books and has published prominent translations of texts like “The Inferno by Dante Alighieri.” The poet spoke in Wayland as part of Wayland Reads, a library-sponsored program celebrating literature within the Wayland community.

“My goal is to present poetry as a fundamental human art, akin to singing or dancing,” Pinsky announced to the audience.

The poet encouraged the audience to focus on the immediate pleasure provided by poetry, rather than the intricacies of literary analysis. Pinsky believes one should not attempt to understand every line in a poem but should rather enjoy the process of gradually understanding its meaning. To illustrate his point, Pinksy compared prose to the lyrics of a song which one could enjoy without a comprehensive understanding.

“Part of the experience is understanding more with every listen,” Pinsky said, further describing his theory.

Pinsky described poetry as the most natural of all arts, which he attributed to the individualization of reading. Each person, he explained, interprets a poem in their own personal way. Pinsky suggested that a video distributed on YouTube is the same everywhere in the world but that a poem is different to each person who reads it.

“The medium is the audience’s body. You read [the poem] to yourself,” Pinsky said.

After a reading of his own poem “ABC,” Pinsky defended the work’s deliberate ambiguity. Referencing the poem’s final line, “X = your zenith,” Pinsky joked about its lack of specificity.

“Thank god your zenith is unknown,” Pinsky said “It would be awful to know that was your zenith.”

The poet’s presentation ended with a question and answer session with the audience, during which Pinsky discussed his earliest experiences with poetry. Pinsky mentioned that he grew up in a household that discouraged writing poetry but that he still experimented with crafting words in his mind.

“In the social milieu I was in, writing a poem would be like wearing a dress,” Pinsky said. “However, I don’t remember not playing with language.”

Although Pinsky’s audience was largely composed of adults, several students from Wayland High School attended the event. Senior Scott Becker expressed admiration for Pinsky’s poetry and ideas.

“I thought Pinsky’s opinion on the difference between poetry and music was interesting,” Becker said. “He said anyone can read poetry, and it sounds good, but it takes a certain talent to create music. I had never thought about where to draw the line before.”

Adults in the audience who were more familiar with Pinsky’s work were excited to meet such a prominent literary figure.

“This is like the equivalent of meeting my favorite rock star,” English teacher Janet Karman said.

Wayland Reads will be holding additional poetry-themed events throughout April.