January 6th 2019
Everyone knows that Wordsworth defined good poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," but few continue the quote, which ends, "and though this may be true, poems to which any value can be attached were never produced...but by a man who, being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, had also thought long and deeply."
There is no direct line to the soul, the act of creation is artificial. Which simply means it involves artifice, technique, attention, or we're just left with conditioned reactions and cliche. Every time we open our mouths, we make ourselves up.
You can't tell the truth, but you can hide it. The best, the most honest utterance you can make is framed as a riddle, a riddle you don't know the answer to. Feeling is negotiated, not presented.
But still, if only I had the courage, I'd like to know what she is feeling, exactly, just for a moment.
Everyone knows that Wordsworth defined good poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," but few continue the quote, which ends, "and though this may be true, poems to which any value can be attached were never produced...but by a man who, being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, had also thought long and deeply."
There is no direct line to the soul, the act of creation is artificial. Which simply means it involves artifice, technique, attention, or we're just left with conditioned reactions and cliche. Every time we open our mouths, we make ourselves up.
You can't tell the truth, but you can hide it. The best, the most honest utterance you can make is framed as a riddle, a riddle you don't know the answer to. Feeling is negotiated, not presented.
But still, if only I had the courage, I'd like to know what she is feeling, exactly, just for a moment.
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