My students "don't get it" and hate everything non-narrative

O, narrative literature!

My students refuse to slow down when reading the lyric work. I've asked them again and again that if they find themselves saying, "I don't get it" after they read something, that they should probably reread it and make some connections, even if those connections are language-based. And they are constantly equating "I don't get it" with "I don't like it," which I find infuriating. I've told them that it's okay to like something without understanding it (Shout out to "The Wasteland"!), but they don't care. They want everything on the page to make sense to them the first time they read it. They are here for the narrative, because it's easy. Oh, it's just so easy. Pshaw!

I don't want them to like lyric work just because I do, but I do want them to try to understand why lyricism is important to literature. Some students do change their minds after our in-class discussions, but I would like them to think critically about difficult work before they come to class.