Soldier, there is a war between the mind And sky, between thought and day and night. It is For that the poet is always in the sun, Patches the moon together in his room To his Virgilian cadences, up down, Up down. It is a war that never ends.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The poet exists in a perpetual conflict between internal thought and external reality, constantly trying to reconcile day and night.
- In plain terms
- Poets fight a never-ending war between their thoughts and the real world.
- What can you take from it?
- Creativity involves a constant struggle between inner and outer worlds.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where do you find conflict between thought and reality?
- How do you reconcile your inner and outer worlds?
Another view
Not all creative work involves such an intense internal war.
More from Wallace Stevens
They will get it straight one day at the Sorbonne. We shall return at twilight from the lecture Pleased that the irrational is rational, Until flicked by feeli…
Permalink to quote #173 The soldier is poor without the poet's lines, His petty syllabi, the sounds that stick, Inevitably modulating, in the blood. And war for war, each has its gall…
Permalink to quote #175 You remain the more than natural figure. You Become the soft-footed phantom, the irrational Distortion, however fragrant, however dear. That's it: the more tha…
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