All experiment is made on a basis of tradition; all tradition is the crystallization of experiment.
Louis MacneiceRead
Everyone is not able, or inclined, to write poetry in the narrower sense any more than everyone is qualified to take part in a walking race. But just as all of us can and do walk, so all of us can and do use language poetically.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Not everyone can write traditional poetry, but everyone has the ability to express themselves artistically through language.
This quote by Louis Macneice highlights the idea that while not everyone may possess the skills or inclination to write conventional poetry, every individual has the innate ability to use language in a creative and expressive manner. Just as walking is a universal activity that everyone participates in, so too is the use of language, which can be infused with poetic elements by anyone willing to engage with it artistically.
Themes
PoetryLanguageArtistic ExpressionCreativityCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a creative writing workshop, to encourage participants to explore their voice, one might use this quote.
More from Louis Macneice
All quotes →The rules or 'laws' of poetry are only tentative devices, an approximate scheme. There is no Sinaitic recipe for poetry, for the individual poem is the norm.
Louis MacneiceRead
I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.
Louis MacneiceRead
I am not yet born; Forgive me For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words When they speak me, my thoughts when they think me, My treason engendered by traitors beyound me, My life when they murder by means of my hands, my death when they live me.
Louis MacneiceRead
All that I would like to be is human, having a share_x000D_ in a civilized, articulate and well-adjusted_x000D_ community where the mind is given its due_x000D_ but the body is not distrusted
Louis MacneiceRead
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