Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.
Seamus HeaneyRead
The kind of poet who founds and reconstitutes values is somebody like Yeats or Whitman - these are public value-founders.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that certain poets have the power to shape and redefine societal values through their work.
Seamus Heaney emphasizes that poets such as W.B. Yeats and Walt Whitman play a crucial role in society by creating and reshaping values through their artistic expressions. These poets not only reflect the prevailing cultural sentiments but actively contribute to the formation of public values, influencing how people perceive and understand the world around them.
Themes
PoetValuesYeatsWhitmanInfluenceSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of literature in education.
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In my early teens, I acquired a kind of representative status: went on behalf of the family to wakes and funerals and so on. And I would be counted on as an adult contributor when it came to farm work - the hay in the summertime, for example.
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I think that water is immediately interesting. It's just, as an element, it is full of life. It is associated with origin; it is bright - it reflects you.
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