"Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing"

Edmund Burke's quote, "Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows, and of providing existence to absolutely nothing", provides an extensive commentary on the nature and power of poetry. The metaphor of "corroborating shadows" recommends that poetry has the ability to give form and substance to ideas, feelings, and experiences that are otherwise intangible or evasive. Shadows are often symbolic of the hidden or the ungraspable aspects of life, such as feelings, dreams, and the subconscious mind. Through poetic expression, these nebulous components are brought into clearer focus, enabling them to be perceived and valued in new methods.

The second part of the quote, "lending presence to nothing", even more explores poetry's capability to bridge the abstract and the concrete. It implies that poetry can bring into presence ideas and conceptions that do not have a concrete form in the physical world. In this sense, poetry is an act of production. It crafts narratives and images from large imagination, enabling readers to check out realms and emotions beyond the immediate reality. The expression "financing existence" likewise hints at a temporal and conditional nature of this creation; poetry doesn't make things physically real however provides presence within the mind and spirit of the reader.

Burke's assertion highlights the transformative power inherent in poetry. It can make the unreal feel genuine, enable the undetectable to be seen, and give voice to the quiet. In providing structure and language to the ineffable, poetry goes beyond common communication, reaching into the depths of human experience and stimulating shared understanding and psychological resonance. At its core, Burke's quote commemorates the paradoxical nature of poetry-- how it makes tangible what is inherently intangible, providing insight into the intricacies of life through the deft manipulation of language and the limitless breadth of creativity.