11-18-2013, 09:54 AM
Your opening post, jdeirmend, reminds me of a quote from Raymond Chandler. I mostly dislike Chandler as a teller of messy, nasty stories, but this is a quote, composed in his notebooks, which I often return to:
"There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous."
Poetry, I think, should first be well-written and considered. If it is a tool for understanding or experiencing your spirit, as distinct from mythology and psychology, it is one which should be used well, like any tool. Randomly chucking a hammer at some rubble doesn't make a house, and noting your first thoughts in any form or order doesn't make a poem. That's why I've come to dislike writers who don't edit, and those with silly ideas about the greatest self-expression being spontaneous. Horseshit. Nothing produced by man is great unless it is considered. Whether free verse or sonnet, if a poem is to connect with humans other than yourself, to convey and explore the spirit, it must be crafted with care.
"There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous."
Poetry, I think, should first be well-written and considered. If it is a tool for understanding or experiencing your spirit, as distinct from mythology and psychology, it is one which should be used well, like any tool. Randomly chucking a hammer at some rubble doesn't make a house, and noting your first thoughts in any form or order doesn't make a poem. That's why I've come to dislike writers who don't edit, and those with silly ideas about the greatest self-expression being spontaneous. Horseshit. Nothing produced by man is great unless it is considered. Whether free verse or sonnet, if a poem is to connect with humans other than yourself, to convey and explore the spirit, it must be crafted with care.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe