Quotes
Courage Does Not Always Roar
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – The Closeness of Poetry
My contribution to this week’s episode of Writer’s Quote Wednesday is from Babette Deutch:
“Poetry is important. No less than science, it seeks a hold upon reality, and the closeness of its approach is the test of its success.” Babette Deutsch
I had a different poetry quote in mind for today, but of the two I chose this one because it reminds me how powerful good poetry can be and the impact of its gift on the world. The result of words that live combined with a strong voice to deliver them has the capacity to change lives. I’m sure there’s so much more that can be said about this powerful quote, but that is all I have for you this afternoon.
About the Author:
Deutsch was a Poet, novelist, and editor. She was born and lived much of her life in New York City and began to publish poems in journals such as the New Republic while a student at Barnard College, where she earned a BA. Two years after her graduation, she published her first poetry collection, Banners. What is interesting about Babette is that she was part of what is called the Imagist Movement. Now I didn’t know what that was so I Googled it:
Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It has been described as the most influential movement in English poetry. A characteristic feature of Imagism is its attempt to isolate a single image to reveal its essence.
Aligned with the Imagist movement, Deutsch typically composed compact, lyrical pieces using crisp visual imagery. Many of her poems are responses to paintings or other pieces of visual art. Deutsch is the author of 10 collections of poetry, two of which are self-selected volumes of her collected work: Collected Poems 1919–1962 (1963) and The Collected Poems of Babette Deutsch (1969). She is was also the author of four novels and six children’s books. Babette died in November of 1982.
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And that’s it for Writer’s Quote Wednesday! Be sure to check out Silver Threading to see how you can join the fun!
http://silverthreading.com/2015/04/15/writers-quote-wednesday-3/
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Derek Walcott
Today’s quote for Writer’s Quote Wednesday is from Poet and Playwright Derek Walcott:
“… the truest writers are those who see language not as a linguistic process but as a living element….” – Derek Walcott
I think this is such a great motivational quote for writers. It has a way about it that can be explained in much more detail than what I can give but in short, it reminds me of the living attribute of words. Just the power of words and how breathing language is. I think that when we seek to create vision for the reader it’s much more than the language aspect in the literal form. It is not merely collaborating strings of words together for English sake, but it is feeling. Experiencing the moment and then putting that moment into words. Personally, I think some of my best writing has occurred during times where I did not purposely set out to write, but the language itself was so moving, and so feeling, that I simply had to.
About the Author (from Poets.org)
“The recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature, Derek Walcott was born in Castries, Saint Lucia, the West Indies, on January 23, 1930. His first published poem, “1944” appeared in The Voice of St. Lucia when he was fourteen years old, and consisted of 44 lines of blank verse. By the age of nineteen, Walcott had self published two volumes, 25 Poems (1948) and Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), exhibiting a wide range of influences, including William Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound.
He later attended the University of the West Indies, having received a Colonial Development and Welfare scholarship, and in 1951 published the volume Poems.
The founder of the Trinidad Theater Workshop, Walcott has also written several plays produced throughout the United States, The Odyssey: A Stage Version (1992); The Isle is Full of Noises (1982); Remembrance and Pantomime (1980); The Joker of Seville and O Babylon! (1978); Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays (1970); Three Plays: The Last Carnival; Beef, No Chicken; and A Branch of the Blue Nile (1969). His play Dream on Monkey Mountain won the Obie Award for distinguished foreign play of 1971. He founded Boston Playwrights’ Theater at Boston University in 1981.
About his work, the poet Joseph Brodsky said, “For almost forty years his throbbing and relentless lines kept arriving in the English language like tidal waves, coagulating into an archipelago of poems without which the map of modern literature would effectively match wallpaper. He gives us more than himself or ‘a world’; he gives us a sense of infinity embodied in the language.”
He currently divides his time between his home in St. Lucia and New York City.
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And that’s it for Writer’s Quote Wednesday!
Don’t forget to check out Colleen on Silver Threading to see how you can join the fun.
http://silverthreading.com/category/writers-quote-wednesday/
Dear Writers, A Quote Worth Remembering
“By writing and publishing your book, you have the potential to touch many readers. The possibilities are endless of how your story can positively affect others, whether it’s an entire town or just one person. It’s through stories that we connect to others. So keep writing, you never know how your message could change someone’s life.” – Nicola Gibbs
Good Poetry
“Good poetry could not have been otherwise written than it is. The first time you hear it, it sounds rather as if copied out of some invisible tablet in the Eternal mind than as if arbitrarily composed by the poet.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mindful Thoughts
This weekend, focus not on your actions but instead, try to focus on your thoughts before they become actions. I guarantee then we are all bound to learn something new about ourselves. This weekend, as you break, let the rejuvenation of your mind and the search of your soul be the pillow to which you rest your thoughts. Enjoy your weekend people :).
The PBS Blog 