"Only truthful hands write true poems. I cannot see any basic difference between a handshake and a poem"
- Paul Celan
About this Quote
This quote by Paul Celan talks to the value of reality in composing. He suggests that only those who are honest and sincere can write true poems. He further suggests that there is no fundamental difference between a handshake and a poem. A handshake is a gesture of trust and sincerity, and a poem is a form of expression that conveys the same belief. Celan is recommending that both a handshake and a poem are types of interaction that require truth and sincerity in order to be significant. He is highlighting the value of reality in writing, and recommending that without it, a poem is not genuinely a poem. Celan's quote is a suggestion that fact is necessary in all forms of communication, which without it, our words are meaningless.
This quote is written / told by Paul Celan between November 23, 1920 and April 20, 1970. He/she was a famous Poet from Romania.
The author also have 3 other quotes.
"Of the individual poems, some are more lyric and some are more descriptive or narrative. Each poem is fixed in a moment. All those moments written or read together take on the movement and architecture of a narrative"
"The heart of the matter seems to me to be the direct interaction between one's making a poem in English and a poem in the language that one understands and values. I don't see how you can do it otherwise"
"The point of an experiment is not to arrive at a predetermined end point, to prove or disprove anything, but to deliver a poem that reveals much about the process taken"
"Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them"
"The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom... in a clarification of life - not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion"