I think this is an insightful point, but not precisely right. It's absolutely true that the "misunderstanding" is central to the poem's popularity among schola

I think this is an insightful point, but not precisely right. It's absolutely true that the "misunderstanding" is central to the poem's popularity among scholars, academics, and would-be poets -- the feeling of being in on the the trick that's fooling all the lay readers is a big part of the charm. That said, as ghaff noted, I don't think the academics are fooling themselves: most lay readers really do make the hallmark card interpretation of the poem. Most of references you noted are intended for an educated audience with some aspirations to highbrow culture.