The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation.
– James Fenton
Tag: poem
Quotable 383
I want my poems to be wiser than I am, to know more about themselves than I do.
– John Hollander
Quotable 352
Word choice stands at the center of the practice of writing. This is particularly true for poetry, and even more so for haiku. Simply put, the choice of a word can make or break a poem.
– David Grayson
Quotable 304
I revise toward clarity and away from difficulty,
wanting the poem to appear to be written with ease.
– Ted
Kooser
haiku 276
Seinfeld haiku
a poem
about nothing
Pen to Paper: The Great Poem that Almost Wasn’t
Lt. Alexis Helmer was killed and buried on May 2, 1915, a victim of the Battle of St. Julien, one of the four engagements of the Second Battle of Ypres during World War I. A chaplain was not available, and his service was conducted by his friend and former teacher Major John McCrae. McCrae was a surgeon and commanded a field hospital in the Canadian infantry.
The next day, McCrae stole a few minutes from the miseries of his work to write a poem. He had written medical textbooks and was an amateur poet. He looked up occasionally toward the little cemetery where his 22-year-old friend lay. After twenty minutes of writing, he had composed a fifteen-line poem in the rondeau style.
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