C.D. Wright - Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment....

Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment. I read poetry. I am somebody. I am the people, too. It can be allowed that an industrious quantity of contemporary American poetry is consciously written for a hermetic constituency; the bulk is written for the bourgeoisie, leaving a lean cut for labor. Only the hermetically aimed has a snowball's chance in hell of reaching its intended ears. One proceeds from this realization. A staggering figure of vibrant, intelligent people can and do live without poetry, especially without the poetry of their time. This figure includes the unemployed, the rank and file, the union brass, banker, scientist, lawyer, doctor, architect, pilot, and priest. It also includes most academics, most of the faculty of the humanities, most allegedly literary editors and most allegedly literary critics. They do so--go forward in their lives, toward their great reward, in an engulfing absence of poetry--without being perceived or perceiving themselves as hobbled or deficient in any significant way. It is nearly true, though I am often reminded of a Transtromer broadside I saw in a crummy office building in San Francisco: We got dressed and showed the houseYou live well the visitor saidThe slum must be inside you. If I wanted to understand a culture, my own for instance, and if I thought such an understanding were the basis for a lifelong inquiry, I would turn to poetry first. For it is my confirmed bias that the poets remain the most 'stunned by existence,' the most determined to redeem the world in words.

C.D. Wright

They Said So®

C.D. Wright Quotes

;

Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment. I read poetry. I am somebody. I am the people, too. It can be allowed that an industrious quantity of contemporary American poetry is consciously written for a hermetic constituency; the bulk is written for the bourgeoisie, leaving a lean cut for labor. Only the hermetically aimed has a snowball's chance in hell of reaching its intended ears. One proceeds from this realization. A staggering figure of vibrant, intelligent people can and do live without poetry, especially without the poetry of their time. This figure includes the unemployed, the rank and file, the union brass, banker, scientist, lawyer, doctor, architect, pilot, and priest. It also includes most academics, most of the faculty of the humanities, most allegedly literary editors and most allegedly literary critics. They do so--go forward in their lives, toward their great reward, in an engulfing absence of poetry--without being perceived or perceiving themselves as hobbled or deficient in any significant way. It is nearly true, though I am often reminded of a Transtromer broadside I saw in a crummy office building in San Francisco: We got dressed and showed the houseYou live well the visitor saidThe slum must be inside you. If I wanted to understand a culture, my own for instance, and if I thought such an understanding were the basis for a lifelong inquiry, I would turn to poetry first. For it is my confirmed bias that the poets remain the most 'stunned by existence,' the most determined to redeem the world in words. C.D. Wright

They Said So®

Keywords

reads poetry told inopportune moment read people allowed industrious quantity contemporary american consciously written hermetic constituency bulk bourgeoisie leaving lean cut labor hermetically aimed snowball' chance hell reaching intended ears proceeds realization staggering figure vibrant intelligent live time includes unemployed rank file union brass banker scientist lawyer doctor architect pilot priest academics faculty humanities allegedly literary editors critics -- forward lives great reward engulfing absence poetry-- perceived perceiving hobbled deficient significant true reminded transtromer broadside crummy office building san francisco dressed showed houseyou visitor saidthe slum inside wanted understand culture instance thought understanding basis lifelong inquiry turn confirmed bias poets remain 'stunned existence ' determined redeem world words

Explore other Authors

Gerry Adams

Jackie DeShannon

Dean Acheson

John Hickenlooper

Cyril Connolly

H.L. Mencken

Brandon Mull

Zoe Saldana

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

William Carlos Williams

Brendan Fraser

Robert E. Lee

If you are using this quote in any webpage , printmedia or any other places please use the following methods to cite this quotation.

MLA Style Citation

"A quote by C.D. Wright" theysaidso.com, 2024. Apr 25, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/cd-wright-nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every-inopportune-moment-i-read-poe

APA Style Citation

"A quote by C.D. Wright" (n.d.). theysaidso.com. Retrieved Apr 25, 2024, from theysaidso.com web site : https://theysaidso.com/quote/cd-wright-nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every-inopportune-moment-i-read-poe

Chicago Style Citation

"A quote by C.D. Wright". theysaidso.com, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/cd-wright-nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every-inopportune-moment-i-read-poe , accessed Apr 25, 2024.

Comments

Authentication required

You must log in to post a comment.

There are no comments yet.