Interpretation

Definition: it is an explaination, analysis and understand an art or a poem or texts.

Example:

I travelled on, seeing the hill, where lay my expectation. A long it was and weary way. The gloomy cave of Desperation I left on the one, and on the other side the rock of Pride. [Written as prose.]

1. Literal: The persona sees the hill where he/she wants to go. His way will be long and hard. On one side is a cave and on the other a rock. He continues on. [That's it. Nothing difficult to understand.] {Concerning "persona," which means the person, without name, acting in or telling the story. Do not assume that it is the poet [even when it uses "I"] until evidence in the poem confirms this. Writers use this to express opinions not their own.}
2. Implied: The persona is on a life journey. [This is a reasonable possibility, but not within the words of the poem. If this theory does not fit later on, we will have to revise it.] He sees where he wants to go, but the way is difficult. He must travel between a gloomy cave and a rock. [If Desperation and Pride were written "desperation" and "pride," these would be understood as images not symbols. This level would understand them in general terms as "a desperate, gloomy cave" and "a prideful rock."]
3. Allegorical: The persona sees his goal in life, his final objective. He must travel between Desperation (pictured as a gloomy cave) and Pride (seen as a rock). {Herbert's version of a rock and a hard place.} Because Desperation and Pride are capitalized, they become symbols of the ideas, and twin dangers for the traveler.

Signification: interpretation help the reader to understand the poem deeply about the message of the poet.