American poetry is this country's greatest patrimony. It takes a stranger to see some things clearly. This is one of them, and I am that stranger.
Interpretation
American poetry is a vital part of the nation's heritage, and perspective from an outsider can reveal its true value.
In this quote, Joseph Brodsky articulates the idea that American poetry represents an essential aspect of the nation's cultural heritage, which may often be overlooked by its own citizens. He suggests that an outsider's fresh perspective can illuminate the unique qualities and significance of American poetry, allowing for a deeper appreciation of its contributions to the country's identity.
In practice
During a lecture on American literature, I referenced Brodsky's quote to highlight the significance of poetry in our national identity.
Basically, it's hard for me to assess myself, a hardship not only prompted by the immodesty of the enterprise, but because one is not capable of assessing himself, let alone his work. However, if I were to summarize, my main interest is the nature of time. That's what interests me most of all. What time can do to a man.
One always pulls the trigger out of self-interest and quotes history to avoid responsibility or pangs of conscience.
On the whole, infinity is a fairly palpable aspect of this business of publishing, if only because it extends a dead author's existence beyond the limits he envisioned, or provides a living author with a future he cannot measure. In other words, this business deals with the future which we all prefer to regard as unending.
The invention of ethical and political doctrines, which blossomed into our own social sciences, is a product of times when things appeared manageable. The same goes for the criticism of those doctrines, though as a voice from the past, this criticism proved prophetic.
Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you. There will be a lot of those - in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed.
To put it in plain language, Russia is that country where the name of a writer appears not on the cover of his book, but on the door of his prison cell.
When you know what an actor has, you can reach in and arouse it. If you don't know what he has, you don't know what the hell is going on.
Ordinary people waited till life disclosed to them its secrets, but to the few, to the elect, the mysteries of life were revealed before the veil was drawn away. Sometimes this was the effect of art, and chiefly of the art of literature, which dealt immediately with the passions and the intellect.
The pen is the language of the soul; as the concepts that in it are generated, such will be its writings.
The emotion of beauty is always obscured by the appearance of the object. Therefore, the object must be eliminated from the picture.
It's easy to photograph light reflecting from a surface, the truly hard part is capturing the light in the air.
Let my soul, a shining tree, Silver branches lift towards thee, Where on a hallowed winter's night The clear-eyed angels may alight.
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