Thursday, July 05, 2007

10 Favorite Quotes About Poetry: #10, 9, 8.

I was going to steal this idea from Sarah Sloat (and am so honored that she said she was stealing my "favorites" idea, because she has one of the most creative and enjoyable blogs anywhere and always seems to be coming up with yet another great idea; see her list here) when I also was tagged by Sam Rasnake with a similar meme: Give us at least 10 quotations pertaining to poetry - from 10 different writers &/or poets which best coincide with your philosophy vis a vis ars poetica. They can be posthumous or otherwise. The order is not important - unless it is to you.

Not all of the quotes I chose are strictly about poetry, but all of them very much embody my "philosophy vis a vis ars poetica." I also took some liberties regarding who made the statements; the meme instructs, "from ten different writers and/or poets," but I included quotes by two actors and one from Bob Dylan.

And monkey-see-monkey-do again, instead of listing all ten in one post, I'll post a few at a time (yet another thievery of Sarah's blog).

First, an appropriate caveat:
The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all that he has learned about poetry, is only a partial assurance. - A.R. Ammons

8.) 'Something characteristic of the poetic imagination: a pressing need for utterance balanced by an equal determination to keep silent. - Eleanor Wilner

9.) Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat. - Robert Frost

10.) If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger. - Muriel Rukeyser

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Love the Rukeyser quote . . . I get made fun of by poet friends who don't understand when I say I feel sometimes that the creation of poetry is far more magical than organic -- esp. compared with the creation of, say, a piece of prose. Something about this quote speaks to my as yet un named feeling.