Nov 19, 2008
A poem is like a person. Though it has a family tree, it is important not because of its ancestors but because of its individuality. The poem, like any human being, is something more than its most complete analysis. Like any human being, it gives a sense of unified individuality which no summary of its qualities can reproduce; and at the same time a sense of variety which is beyond satisfactory final analysis.- Donald Stauffer Attribution: Donald Stauffer (b. 1930), U.S. critic, educator. The Nature of Poetry, ch. 5, Norton (1946).
Categories: Critic, Educator, Poetry And Poets
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