… Archibald MacLeish.
“Poetry is the art of understanding what it is to be alive…
You don’t write as a writer, you write as a man – a man with a certain hard-earned skill in the use of words, a particular, and particularly naked, consciousness of human life, of the human tragedy and triumph – a man who is moved by human life, who cannot take it for granted.
… I began to understand… by teaching a course in which I tried to find out for myself what poetry is, what it really is. I began to understand that it is a part of a process which extends beyond poetry but which is most apparent in poetry, of trying to see human experience, trying to see “the world.” The world being what a man feels about the world. … [Y]ou are laboring at your art not only to make works of art but to make sense of your life – those dark and bewildering moments of experience. And to make sense of it not only for yourself. [Works of art] are steps in an attempt to stop time in terms of time so that it may be seen… If you have succeeded at all you have become part … of the consciousness of your time.”
March 11th, 2009 at 3:51PM
Very interesting post. Understanding the reason to life is complicated, as are the meanings behind a lot of Archibald’s poetry. While many writers tried writing with their mind, MacLeish believes one should write wish his or her heart, as he did. If you would like to read more about Archibald MacLeish, you should check out the blog I’m making on him for an English project: http://malloryegr5.edublogs.org