12.4.07

hearing the voice...

Poems do not endure as objects but as presences. When you read anything worth remembering, you liberate a human voice; you release into the world again a companion spirit.
        I read poems to hear that voice. And I write to speak to those I have heard.

              Louise Glück
                 from “Death and Absence,” Proofs & Theories

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love understanding the motivation to write. It's such a strange act, a sort of "if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it" act.

I especially it when writers talk about the need for companionship through the word - but it isn't as easy making pals. It's about companionship of the spirit and mind, of a shared understanding of the world.

I love Gluck; met her at a reading once. She was so gracious.

sam of the ten thousand things said...

The more I write - the more I read - the more I focus on the voice. First. If the voice isn't right, the poem won't follow, can't follow.

Thanks for the read Melissa.

Peter said...

I love this quote. And I agree with it wholeheartedly.

emilie zoey baker said...

Just the sort of thing I needed to see today.

sam of the ten thousand things said...

Thanks Peter and Emilie for the read and comment.