It is enough for a poet to be the guilty conscience of his age.
Saint-John PerseRead
Poetry allies itself with beauty - a supreme union - but never uses it as its ultimate goal or sole nourishment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Poetry embraces beauty but does not solely rely on it for its purpose.
This quote by Saint-John Perse suggests that while poetry is deeply connected to beauty, the essence of poetry transcends mere aesthetic appreciation. Instead of using beauty as its only source of inspiration, poetry seeks deeper meanings and truths, engaging with emotions and experiences that go beyond the surface.
Themes
PoetryBeautyArtInspirationEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a poetry workshop, to emphasize the depth of poetry, I could quote 'Poetry allies itself with beauty - a supreme union - but never uses it as its ultimate goal or sole nourishment.'
More from Saint-John Perse
All quotes →In truth, every creation of the mind is first of all 'poetic' in the proper sense of the word; and inasmuch as there exists an equivalence between the modes of sensibility and intellect, it is the same function that is exercised initially in the enterprises of the poet and the scientist.
Saint-John PerseRead
The poet existed among the cave men; he will exist among men of the atomic age, for he is an inherent part of man. Even religions have been born from the need for poetry, which is a spiritual need, and it is through the grace of poetry that the divine spark lives forever in the human flint.
Saint-John PerseRead
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