Poets have to convey their message by indirect means, since to do it directly would necessitate prose in most cases. So poets use metaphor, terms with rich associations, unwritten and unspoken but implied indirectly, and frankly untrue statements to help make their point within the constraints of poetry.
I am an inveterate romantic, and so I tend to romanticise descriptions of events for greater emphasis, and better poetic impact. A partner once made the mistake of taking the words of a poem literally as a description of real events instead of a poetic mix of fantasy, reality and romance. She did not understand that poetry is an end in itself, that a greater truth than the real one can be depicted in verse, and that the poet is attepting to initiate a desired response in the reader. To do so with success requires consummate lying.
Malcolm Miller's Poems 