I like poems that are daggers that sing.
Frederick SeidelRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a preference for poetry that is both impactful and skillfully crafted.
Frederick Seidel values poetry that evokes strong emotions, akin to 'daggers,' while also possessing artistic merit. He suggests that even if such poems disturb the reader, their craftsmanship ensures they leave a lasting effect, highlighting the duality of beauty and pain in art.
Themes
PoetryEmotionArtistryImpactCraftsmanship
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be perfect to quote during a poetry reading to emphasize the power of poems.
More from Frederick Seidel
All quotes →Similar quotes
Racist writing is a craft failure.
Kwame DawesRead
I come from a mixed family, where my mother is art house cinema and my father is B-movie genre cinema. They're estranged, and I've been trying to bring them together for all of my career to one degree or another.
Quentin TarantinoRead
Life and people are complex. A writer as an artist doesn't have the personality of a politician. We don't see the world that simply.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
In the 'Nude Descending a Staircase,' I wanted to create a static image of movement: movement is an abstraction, a deduction articulated within the painting, without our knowing if a real person is or isn't descending an equally real staircase.
Marcel DuchampRead
What could be more simple and more complex, more obvious and more profound than a portrait.
Charles BaudelaireRead
It's into the same bag as E.T. and Yoda, wherein you're trying to create something that people will actually believe, but it's not so much a symbol of the thing, but you're trying to do the thing itself.
Jim HensonRead