Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip Quinlan
I'm fortified slightly in my argument by the fact that the current U.S. Poet Laureate said something similar, in connection with his decision to cease punctuating his poems. He sees (or saw) poems as recorded thought, rather than speech, and thought isn't punctuated. He also thought all poems fail, because language is imperfect.
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Philip,
If you
go here, and move to the second video (the interview portion) you can find a pretty concise discussion of Merwin's thoughts on knowledge, form, and punctuation. You may be surprised by what you find about punctuation, and I think most people here may be surprised to find he thinks of himself as primarily a formal poet.
On your other point, I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree. Does language come first? Can thought exist without language? I have no idea.
On the primary subject, here's Aristotle on Metaphor:
"It is a great matter to observe propriety in these several modes of expression, as also in compound words, strange (or rare) words, and so forth. But the greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances. "
Off to dine...
Thanks,
Bill