Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Quotes of the Month

"Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation's tears in shoulder blades."
- Boris Pasternak

"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know it is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know this is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?" - Emily Dickinson

2 comments:

  1. Good one. Although, when I think about it, it's depressing how many good quotes there are about poetry, and how much bad poetry there is.

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  2. I think it has something to do with poetry's inherent ineffability, the fact that many people are aware of its value but have a hard time achieving its full potential. To me, it's a spiritual question - just because I believe there is a divine presence in the world doesn't mean I know much about it, much less that anyone can say what she/he/it wants us humans to do with our lives. Likewise, poetry is an ideal that we can - most of the time - merely attempt and approach.

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