Poetry is simply literature reduced to the essence of its active principle. It is purged of idols of every kind, of realistic illusions, of any conceivable equivocation between the language of 'truth' and the language of 'creation.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Valery defines poetry as pure creative truth stripped of all falsehoods and realistic constraints.
- In plain terms
- Poetry is language focused only on creation and truth, free from illusions.
- What can you take from it?
- True poetry avoids compromise between reality and imagination.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can language ever be fully free of illusion?
- What makes poetry different from prose?
Another view
It sets an impossibly high standard for what counts as poetry.
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