All experiment is made on a basis of tradition; all tradition is the crystallization of experiment.
Louis MacneiceRead
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.
Interpretation
Poetry is not bound by strict rules; it evolves through individual expression.
In this quote, Louis Macneice emphasizes that the conventions and rules of poetry are merely guidelines rather than absolute laws. He suggests that true poetry arises from personal creativity and expression, indicating that each poem should be seen as a unique work that transcends generalized rules.
In practice
Discussing the nature of poetry in a writing workshop.
All experiment is made on a basis of tradition; all tradition is the crystallization of experiment.
I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.
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.
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.
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
I'm attracted to images that come from a personal exploration of a subject matter. When they have a personal stamp to them, then I think it becomes identifiable.
Jazz is a sideways glance at music. It's like being an architect, knowing the basis of design but understanding that the facade can be whatever you dream.
Frustration is one of the great things in art. Satisfaction is nothing.
My art flatters nobody by imitation; it courts nobody by smoothness, tickles nobody by petiteness... there is no finish in nature.
I always say it takes three weeks to know a character and three months to own it. And I think that's probably true of every theater artist. If you really want to see a performance of the show, wait three months.
There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain.
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