Michael Longley — The Vitality of Ordinary Things
On Being with Krista Tippett
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What's Your Definition of Poem?
In a letter to a young poet, you said your two favourite definitions of poet are the scots word mocker or maker and horace's phrase, priest of the muses. You've also spoken of the mystery of a form. Just talk a little bit about that. There's apoet i loved meeting in new york called stanley cunetz. And he wrote in the preface to his collected poems, which i recommend to anyone, that form was a way of conserving energy. Is that wonderful? He's absolutely right. In poetry, the music and the meaning are inseparable. That's the that's the mysterious thing.
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