"In poetry much of the sense and most of the pleasure resides in the sounds the poem make."

Michael Schmidt (poet)Literature See all quotes by Michael Schmidt (poet) →

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“Poetry is a language with a shape”

“What matters in poetry is form, how words work together, the sounds and silences their combinations make. The ordered effects they produce on the attentive hearer.”

“We read with our ears”

“Poetry is a collaborative art, and yet—as it is being created—the most solitary and 'individual' of activities.”

“The reader does not need a technical vocabulary to read poetry, only a voice in the head or out loud which can deliver the sounds.”

“Poetry is a process, a form of discovery, which if it serves a cause, transcends it.”

Resonant Thoughts

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"If there is a sense of reality, there must also be a sense of possibility. To pass freely through open doors, it is necessary to respect the fact that they have solid frames. This principle, by which …"

— Robert Musil

Philosophy1880–1942

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"Yet why should an artist's way of looking at the world have any meaning for us? Why does it give us pleasure? Because, I believe, it increases our awareness of our own potentiality. Not of course our …"

— John Berger

Art1926–2017

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"The aim of poetry—in this primal and primary sense as enchantment—is to awaken us to a fuller sense of our own humanity in both its social and individual aspects. Poetry offers a way of understanding …"

— Dana Gioia

Literature1950

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