Poetry is that / which arrives at the intellect / by way of the heart.
Interpretation
Poetry connects with our intellect through emotional experience.
This quote by R. S. Thomas emphasizes the dual nature of poetry, suggesting that its impact goes beyond mere intellectual interpretation and resonates deeply with our emotional core. By stating that poetry reaches the intellect through the heart, it highlights the importance of feelings and experiences in understanding and appreciating poetic art.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the role of emotions in literature.
The furies are at home in the mirror; it is their address. Even the clearest water, if deep enough can drown. Never think to surprise them. Your face approaching ever so friendly is the white flag they ignore. There is no truce with the furies. A mirror's temperature is always zero. It is ice in the veins. It's camera is an x-ray. It is a chalice held out to you in silent communion, where gaspingly you partake of a shifting identity never your own.
Imaginative truth is the most immediate way of presenting ultimate reality to a human being... ultimate reality is what we call God.
A recurring ideal, I find, is that of simplicity. At times there comes the desire to write with great precision and clarity, words so simple and moving that they bring tears to the eyes.
Man is a dream about a shadow. But when some splendour falls upon him from God, a glory comes to him and his life is sweet.
You want to be a writer, don't know how or when? Find a quiet place, use a humble pen.
We live in the digital age and, unfortunately, it’s degrading our music, not improving it It’s not that digital is bad or inferior, it’s that the way it’s being used isn’t doing justice to the art. The MP3 only has 5 percent of the data present in the original recording. … The convenience of the digital age has forced people to choose between quality and convenience, but they shouldn’t have to make that choice.
My greatest joy comes from creativity: from feeling that I have been able to identify a certain aspect of human nature and crystallise a phenomenon in words.
I don't know if I believe in art. I certainly believe in light.
People associate me with a time when movies were pleasant, when women wore pretty dresses in films and you heard beautiful music. I always love it when people write me and and say 'I was having a rotten time, and I walked into a cinema and saw one of your movies, and it made such a difference.'
The merit of painting lies in the exactness of reproduction. Painting is a science and all sciences are based on mathematics. No human inquiry can be a science unless it pursues its path through mathematical exposition and demonstration.
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