"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility"
- William Wordsworth
About this Quote
This quote by William Wordsworth speaks with the power of poetry and its ability to capture powerful feelings. Wordsworth suggests that poetry is born from emotion, but it is only when those emotions are recollected in harmony that they can be expressed in a significant way. This suggests that poetry is a reflection of the poet's innermost sensations, and that it is only when those sensations are processed and understood that they can be expressed in a meaningful way. Wordsworth's quote also indicates that poetry is a form of self-expression, and that it is just when the poet remains in a serene mindset that they can genuinely express their feelings. In this way, poetry can be viewed as a type of catharsis, enabling the poet to procedure and express their emotions in a significant way.
"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"