Herbert Read - Poem Quotes

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A poem is not a statement, but a manifestation, a manifestation of being

Herbert Read
The words in a poem, (or more exactly, syllables) are vocal signs that convey an intangible essence (the pattern of feeling) that vanishes the moment we approach it with an analytical intelligence.

Herbert Read
A poem therefore is to be defined as a structure of words whose sound constitutes a rhythmical unity, complete in itself, irrefragable, unanalyzable, completing its symbolic references within the ambit of its sound effects.

Herbert Read
The poem, even when it has some predetermined pattern, must be wrought to some effect or finish that justifies the exclamation: This is a poem!

Herbert Read
The rhythm of a poem ceases the moment the feeling loses its intensity.
The feeling (of intensity) held in a crystal cage, asn an image, sealed and immortalized for our contemplation. Beauty in a wild foray, the form we have created, now, remote from the emotion we experience.

Herbert Read
From the poet's viewpoint a lyric is a poem which embodies a single or simple emotional attitude that expresses directly an uninterrupted mood or inspiration.

Herbert Read
The distinction between a major and minor poet is the ability to write a long poem successfully.

Herbert Read
A short poem is often called a lyric, which originally meant a poem short enough to be set to music and sung for a moment's pleasure.

Herbert Read