What does the man with the blue guitar mean?

Answer 1

You ought to look at the first few lines. The man has a blue guitar: how many blue Guitars have you seen (excluding electric guitars, which this "guitar" is clearly not one of)? When you read that he is like a "shearsman," what impression does that convey to you?

When "they" say "You have a blue guitar. You do not play things as they are," how does it seem they feel? Does this sound like praise, or an accusation? What kinds of music (or art) could they be they talking about? Furthermore, it's not specified who "they" are-how does a generic "they" strike you? Do you think of a few, powerful individuals-or do you think of the great mass?

Then the guitarist's reply is extremely important, because he's sort of the "hero" of the poem. "Things as they are are changed upon the blue guitar." He doesn't contradict "them," but sort of proclaims his independence, and his right to create music (again, a stand-in for any art) that does not reflect outward, ordinary reality.

"They" have an impossible request of the guitarist: they want "A tune beyond us, yet ourselves." What kind of art does this make you think of? Could the next section be the guitarist's reply?

How you read these first few lines will serve as a sort of key for the whole rest of the poem. Of course, if you're looking for the "right" way to read them, that's up to you. It's a mistake to think of any poem as a riddle, with an answer that someone who's learned the lingo can see right away. All this sounds like stuff English teachers say all the time, but it's especially worth stressing with a poem like this, because it deals so much with our imagination and its interaction with reality.