The charge frequently leveled against poetry - that it is difficult, obscure, hermetic and whatnot - indicates not the state of poetry but, frankly, the rung of the evolutionary ladder on which society is stuck.
Interpretation
The criticism of poetry reflects society's intellectual and cultural state rather than the nature of poetry itself.
In this quote, Joseph Brodsky suggests that the difficulty some people find in understanding poetry is not a flaw in poetry but a reflection of societal evolution. He implies that the level of comprehension and appreciation of art is indicative of the overall intellectual development of society, indicating that art can challenge and elevate collective thought.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of art in society, one might reference this quote to provoke thought about our collective cultural evolution.
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.
I want to make people feel things when they hear my music I want to give a song to someone who is going through a break up, I want to give a song to someone who loves someone and can't tell them. A song for someone who has just fallen in love and a song for just people who are living their lives.
I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.
What makes a good book? Scholars and critics have been debating that question for decades. I like books that touch my head and my heart at the same time.
Art is by nature optimistic. Art is optimistic because it is alive.
I like poems that are daggers that sing. I like poems that for all the power of the sentiments expressed, and all the power to upset and offend, are so well made that they’re achieved things. However much they upset you, they also affect you.
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go.
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