"A poem in form still has to have voice, gesture, a sense of discovery, a metaphoric connection, as any poetry does"
About this Quote
Form, in Robert Morgan's line, isn't a cage; it's a proving ground. Coming from a soldier, that distinction matters. Military life is built on drill, protocol, and inherited structures that promise order under stress. Morgan borrows that logic only to flip it: structure is necessary, but never sufficient. A poem can march in perfect meter and still be dead on arrival if it lacks "voice" and "gesture" - the human signatures that make language feel lived rather than manufactured.
The phrasing is tellingly physical. "Voice" is not just sound but authority: who is speaking, from what moral position, with what earned experience. "Gesture" suggests embodiment, the small, telling movements that communicate intention when words alone can't. That pairing implies a poet's job is not to decorate form but to animate it, to make technique serve presence.
Then comes the real demand: "a sense of discovery". This rejects the safe poem - the one that arrives already knowing what it will conclude. For a soldier, discovery isn't an abstract creative thrill; it's the difference between rehearsed plans and what happens when the situation changes. The poem, Morgan insists, has to risk surprise, even in strict form.
"Metaphoric connection" lands as a final litmus test: the poem must link inner life to the world with voltage, not just correctness. The subtext is a quiet rebuke to formalism as prestige - the polished sonnet as credential. Morgan is arguing that craft should heighten the stakes, not replace them.
The phrasing is tellingly physical. "Voice" is not just sound but authority: who is speaking, from what moral position, with what earned experience. "Gesture" suggests embodiment, the small, telling movements that communicate intention when words alone can't. That pairing implies a poet's job is not to decorate form but to animate it, to make technique serve presence.
Then comes the real demand: "a sense of discovery". This rejects the safe poem - the one that arrives already knowing what it will conclude. For a soldier, discovery isn't an abstract creative thrill; it's the difference between rehearsed plans and what happens when the situation changes. The poem, Morgan insists, has to risk surprise, even in strict form.
"Metaphoric connection" lands as a final litmus test: the poem must link inner life to the world with voltage, not just correctness. The subtext is a quiet rebuke to formalism as prestige - the polished sonnet as credential. Morgan is arguing that craft should heighten the stakes, not replace them.
Quote Details
| Topic | Poetry |
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