I perceive those concepts more as tools for writing poetry than for interpreting it. (Though in Shakespeare, for instance, scansion can affect interpretation.)

I perceive those concepts more as tools for writing poetry than for interpreting it. (Though in Shakespeare, for instance, scansion can affect interpretation.) Obviously the tools aren't necessary or sufficient to create good poetry (just as understanding big-O notation and recursion is neither necessary nor sufficient to write good software). But they're tools that can be used to improve understanding of others' work, and to craft and improve one's own.