The poet fears failure & so she says "Hold on pen-- what if the critics hate me?" & with that question she blots out more lines than any critic could. The critic is only doing his job: keeping the poet lonely. He barks like a dog at the door when the master comes home. It's in his doggy nature. If he didn't know the poet for the boss, he wouldn't bark so loud. & the poet? It's in her nature to fear failure but not to let that fear blot out her lines.