alt audience

Her poems would only appeal to an uncommon reader.

only language to go on

The deep appeal of poetry as an art form comes from language (text/speech) being its only means.

not explained away

Let me interpose here this axiom of criticism: by explaining the nature of a work of art, we do not explain it away. It is an entity of direct appeal; we do not, in the process of appreciation (no process but an immediate insight) unfold the process of creation.

—Herbert Read, Form in Modern Poetry (Sheed & Ward, 1933)