An excerpt from ENGL 450 Daily Themes:

The best reader of all is one who will read, can read, no faster than he can hear the lines and sentences in his mind’s ear as if aloud. Frequenting poetry has slowed him down by its metric or measured pace.

The eye reader is a barbarian. So also is the writer for the eye reader, who needn’t care how badly he writes since he doesn’t care how badly he is read.

“Barbarian” has a rather interesting connotation, which he noted. It is a rather problematic word, but in this context it works. It suggests that there isn’t a lack of intentionality—there is intention behind the actions—but that it is nevertheless brutish. It is human, but it doesn’t appreciate the art for what it is. In contrast, the ear is the only true writer and only true reader.