Thursday, April 9, 2009

Poetry Quote of the Day: William Meredith

"Whatever a poem is up to, it requires our trust along with our consent to let it try to change our way of thinking and feeling. Nothing without this risk. I expect hang gliding must be like poetry. Once you get used to it, you can't imagine not wanting the scare of it. But it's more serious than hang gliding. Poetry is the safest known mode of human risk. You risk only staying alive." 
---William Meredith, from Poems Are Hard to Read, excerpted at poets.org.


This post is part of my Poetry Quote a Day series for National Poetry Month.

4 comments:

  1. ...it requires our trust along with our consent to let it try to change our way of thinking and feeling. Nothing without this risk.

    I feel very strongly that this should be my response to literature. I remember having been so sheltered (having attended a Christian college) and coming to my graduate studies and reading... Lolita, and having to go, "Okay. Okay. There's a point to this." And then opening up my brain and taking a step back from snap judgment.

    If you can embrace this process of thought, it can give you so much. Thank you for sharing this quote.

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  2. Whoa, there's someting to think about. I am glad I hang glide with poetry.

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  3. What Tanita said, that was what hit me right between the eyes.

    It is that lack of trust, that inability on my part to give consent, that stifles my work.

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  4. Oh, Sara, these quotes you're finding about the danger, the mystery, the trust required for poetry--they're wonderful! I'm going to have to gather all my favorites to use when I'm about to tackle a poem that scares me.

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