Gustave Flaubert, a popular French author, made an intriguing observation about poetry in this quote. He mentions that poetry is as exact as geometry, suggesting that it possesses a distinct degree of precision and exactness. While geometry is normally related to mathematical accuracy, Flaubert suggests that poetry is similarly exact in its own world. He highlights poetry's ability to express complex feelings, experiences, and abstract ideas in a clear and succinct manner. Through its use of language, poetry can produce a vivid and accurate image in the reader's mind. In essence, Flaubert acknowledges poetry as a kind of art that can record the subtleties of human idea and emotion with exceptional precision.
"I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a kind of mean that enables the most dubious practitioners to claim they are poets because they think, If the kind of thing Ginsberg does is poetry, I can do that"
"Nothing truly convincing - which would possess thoroughness, vigor, and skill - has been written against the ancients as yet; especially not against their poetry"
"The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs"
"A book is sent out into the world, and there is no way of fully anticipating the responses it will elicit. Consider the responses called forth by the Bible, Homer, Shakespeare - let alone contemporary poetry or a modern novel"