Poetry - No definition of poetry is adequate unless it be poetry itself. The most accurate analysis by the rarest wisdom is yet insufficient, and the poet will instantly prove it false by setting aside its requisitions. It is indeed all that we do not know. The poet does not need to see how meadows are something else than earth, grass, and water, but how they are thus much. He does not need discover that potato blows are as beautiful as violets, as the farmer thinks, but only how good potato blows are. The poem is drawn out from under the feet of the poet, his whole weight has rested on this ground. It has a logic more severe than the logician's. You might as well think to go in pursuit of the rainbow, and embrace it on the next hill, as to embrace the whole of poetry even in thought.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Poetry cannot be defined by analysis; it exists beyond words, emerging from the poet’s lived experience and intuition.
- In plain terms
- Poetry is felt, not fully explained.
- What can you take from it?
- Experience poetry through feeling rather than trying to define it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does poetry speak to you personally?
- What prevents you from feeling its depth?
Another view
Some may find poetry inaccessible without guidance.
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