From Others for 1919: An Anthology of the New Verse, edited by Alfred Kreymborg.
This poem is in the public domain.
I too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers that there is in
it after all, a place for the genuine.
Hands that can grasp, eyes
that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a
high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because they are
useful; when they become so derivative as to become unintelligible, the
same thing may be said for all of us—that we
do not admire what
we cannot understand. The bat,
holding on upside down or in quest of something to
eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless wolf under
a tree, the immovable critic twinkling his skin like a horse that feels a flea, the base—
ball fan, the statistician—case after case
could be cited did
one wish it; nor is it valid
to discriminate against “business documents and
school-books”; all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry,
nor till the autocrats among us can be
“literalists of
the imagination”—above
insolence and triviality and can present
for inspection, imaginary gardens with real toads in them, shall we have
it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand, in defiance of their opinion—
the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness, and
that which is on the other hand,
genuine, then you are interested in poetry.
Marianne Moore – 1887-1972 Find and share the perfect poems: poets.org/poem/poetry
Which line spoke to you, dear friends? I love this line:
“the same thing may be said for all of us—that we
do not admire what we cannot understand. The bat,
holding on upside down or in quest of something to eat,“
Poetry. Easier than trying to understand what these people are thinking: just sayin’
Photo of a bat by Miriam Fischer on Pexels.com
Thanks for reading and commenting, dear friends,
I wish you miracles to glide you
onward in the new year.
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This line speaks even to those who think they don’t like poetry: “Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers that there is in it after all, a place for the genuine.”
me too – that is definitely my choice <3
~David
We want genuine. always. Thanks, David.
A place for the genuine, yes indeed. If genuine is what they’re looking for, Thanks, Lynn.
Yes to this Selma!
💞
“Hands that can grasp, eyes
that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a
high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because they are
useful;;
Very nice & interested write up poem.
“The same thing may be all of us
That we do not what admire we cannot understand.
The bat holding up side down or in quest of something to eat., “”
I love this line 😍
genuine and useful then. yup. Thanks for stopping for me… wink. Bless you, Cindy
Always my dear ❣️
“do not admire what
we cannot understand”
Hi
Hi 🙂
Nice to see your response back and it’s a pleasure to meet you here.
Hi, back atcha, Carter. All the best…
Hello to you and how are you doing Selma, I’m Carter Hann a marketing professional and oil pipeline maintenance/rigs supplies who also thrives as an avid blogger though I’m new to this site but I have been a fan of your post. You have been a very wonderful soul and you have touched lives with your post/writing including mine and I can’t help it but to reach out to you and hopefully to get a response back
Right, ladybug. How could we admire something we cannot understand, right? We can strive to understand the terroir (a new word I just learned which means the environment as in the soil and climes ++ grapes are cultivated… I like new words)
Thanks for stopping by, my friend. I bless you.
A thought-provoking share, Selma!
Thanks for reading, dearest Ingrid. Bless you. xoxo
Great share! And I’m dizzy just looking at the picture, I’m hoping it’s photoshopped as that looks a tad unsafe! 😆
Dizzying. And if there’s an explanation I’m sure it’s as dizzying
I don’t want to understand that.
Thanks for reading.
💓