#poetry

But at the beginning it was clear to me that concrete poetry was peculiarly suited for using in public settings. This was my idea, but of course I never really much got the chance to do it. ↗

— Ian Hamilton Finlay

#chance #clear #concrete #course #got

But I can only write what the muse allows me to write. I cannot choose, I can only do what I am given, and I feel pleased when I feel close to concrete poetry - still. ↗

— Ian Hamilton Finlay

#am #cannot #choose #close #concrete

Well, probably I was fed up with concrete poetry. There was a lot of bad concrete poetry and besides, it was confused with visual poetry which was completely different. ↗

— Ian Hamilton Finlay

#besides #completely #concrete #confused #different

And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so. ↗

— Norman MacCaig

#poetry #question #second #taught #think

At the round earth's imagined corners blow Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go ; All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow, All whom war, dea[r]th, age, agues, tyrannies, Despair, law, chance hath slain, and you, whose eyes Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe. But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space ; For, if above all these my sins abound, 'Tis late to ask abundance of Thy grace, When we are there. Here on this lowly ground, Teach me how to repent, for that's as good As if Thou hadst seal'd my pardon with Thy blood. ↗

— John Donne

#poetry #religion #age

Life defined only as the opposite of death is not life. ↗

— Mahmoud Darwish

#poetry #death

We don't attempt to have any theme for a number of the anthology, or to have any particular sequence. We just put in things that we like, and then we try to alternate the prose and the poetry. ↗

— James Laughlin

#anthology #any #attempt #just #like

Concrete poets continue to turn out beautiful things, but to me they're more visual than oral, and they almost really belong on the wall rather than in a book. I haven't the least idea of where poetry is going. ↗

— James Laughlin

#beautiful #beautiful things #belong #book #concrete

I think that concrete poetry seems to have, as far as I can see, come to a kind of a dead end. It doesn't seem to be going any further than it went in its high period of about five or six years ago. ↗

— James Laughlin

#ago #any #as far as #come #concrete

I think that is where poetry reading becomes such an individual thing. I mean I have friend who like poets who just don't say anything to me at all, I mean they seem to me rather ordinary and pedestrian. ↗

— James Laughlin

#becomes #friend #i #i think #individual