kdnxdr said:Poetry, I think, comes from the same place math comes from.
I found it a very amusing reply to where poetry comes from.scarletpeaches said:That was a reply to tiny terror, BTW. Damn you and your fast posting!
tiny terror said:Hell?
brokenfingers said:Poetry comes from emotion.
It is the transference, through the written word, of something that moves or inspires the writer - to a reader, thereby moving or inspiring them.
That is where my answer was coming from. I don't see poetry as 'coming' from any one place, and where it does reside is not quite tangible.robeiae said:I tried three times to answer your question, William. But I couldn't bring anything to a conclusion that captures my answer. Maybe that's my answer: poetry comes from something you can't describe, and everyone has a different something.
Rob
There's no doubt that emotion is but one ingredient in a poet's cauldron.William Haskins said:okay, i like this answer (though i might quibble with it coming from emotion exclusively, and believe that it also can be borne of dispassionate intellect).
but operating on your definition, it seems that there are still multiple wellsprings.
certainly, one (as pointed out by unique) is memory.
i would suggest another is observation, whether pure imagist conveyance of it, or by placing it in some larger metaphorical context.
but, yes, definitely, emotion (or as wordsworth said: "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin in emotion recollected in tranquility.") is a very valid answer.
brokenfingers said:There's no doubt that emotion is but one ingredient in a poet's cauldron.
Some other things I think a good poet needs:
Intellect (the ability to reason and percieve the things around you),
self-knowledge (the ability to know yourself and what you are feeling),
percipience (the ability to know others and see what moves them, understand human nature)
and literacy (good vocabulary and writing skills)
Of course, JMHO.