Understanding a poem is one thing, having an interest, a stake in it, is something else entirely. Poetry that demands my allegiance to it, my commitment. The opposite of a "disinterested" view. (I'm using disinterested in the pedantic sense of "having no stake," not in the sense of "uninterested"). Intelligence is not a capability but an attitude. of valuing the intelligence. I'm sure there are smart people who are anti-intellectual; they just find it easier to shut down their minds.