"In time of trouble, men drop their color."
The quote by James Fenton, "In time of trouble, men drop their color," suggests that during difficult or challenging circumstances, human beings tend to set aside superficial differences such as race, ethnicity, or nationality in order to unite and support each other. It implies that adversity has a universalizing effect, bringing people together regardless of their perceived cultural, racial, or ethnic divisions.
"The poet's job is to make reality poetic and to make poetry real."
James Fenton suggests that a poet's role is twofold: first, to reframe or elevate the mundane aspects of reality into something more profound, beautiful, or meaningful through language and artistic expression; second, to infuse poetry with authenticity, relevance, and immediacy by grounding it in real-world experiences and emotions. In essence, a poet is tasked with making the ordinary extraordinary and the abstract tangible.
"Politics can't be separated from poetry in a country like Vietnam."
In this quote, James Fenton suggests that politics and poetry are deeply intertwined in the context of Vietnam. This implies that the political landscape significantly influences the poetic expression, and vice versa. The struggles, triumphs, and hardships experienced by the people of Vietnam as a result of their unique political history serve as powerful sources of inspiration for poets. Moreover, poetry can act as a medium through which the citizens articulate their thoughts, emotions, and aspirations regarding their nation's politics, thereby serving as a crucial component of the national discourse.
"Poetry should not stand still, but should move, grow, change, develop, evolve, like life itself."
This quote by James Fenton emphasizes the dynamic and transformative nature of poetry. He suggests that, just as life is fluid and ever-changing, so too should poetry be. It encourages poets to constantly innovate, grow, and adapt their craft, rather than maintaining a static or unyielding approach. This perspective encourages creativity, evolution, and the exploration of new ideas in poetic expression.
"What is war if not the pursuit of policy by other means?" (often attributed to Clausewitz, but Fenton wrote this)
This quote suggests that war, in essence, is a method or tool for achieving political objectives. In simpler terms, it implies that when diplomacy fails or is deemed insufficient, nations may resort to military force as an alternative means of influencing policy or realizing their desired goals on the international stage. The quote highlights the often interconnected nature of war and politics, where the former can be seen as a continuation or escalation of the latter.
Some people think that English poetry begins with the Anglo-Saxons. I don't, because I can't accept that there is any continuity between the traditions of Anglo-Saxon poetry and those established in English poetry by the time of, say, Shakespeare. And anyway, Anglo-Saxon is a different language, which has to be learned.
- James Fenton
A glance at the history of European poetry is enough to inform us that rhyme itself is not indispensable. Latin poetry in the classical age had no use for it, and the kind of Latin poetry that does rhyme - as for instance the medieval 'Carmina Burana' - tends to be somewhat crude stuff in comparison with the classical verse that doesn't.
- James Fenton
Some of my educated Filipino friends were aspiring poets, but their aspirations were all in the direction of the United States. They had no desire to learn from the bardic tradition that continued in the barrios. Their ideal would have been to write something that would get them to Iowa, where they would study creative writing.
- James Fenton
The term 'epitaph' itself means 'something to be spoken at a burial or engraved upon a tomb.' When an epitaph is a poem written for a tomb, and appears in a book, we are aware that we are not reading it in its proper form: we are reading a reproduction. The original of the epitaph is the tomb itself, with its words cut into the stone.
- James Fenton
Lyric poetry is, of course, musical in origin. I do know that what happened to poetry in the twentieth century was that it began to be written for the page. When it's a question of typography, why not? Poets have done beautiful things with typography - Apollinaire's 'Calligrammes,' that sort of thing.
- James Fenton
An aria in an opera - Handel's 'Ombra mai fu,' for example - gets along with an incredibly small number of words and ideas and a large amount of variation and repetition. That's the beauty of it. It's not taxing to the listener's intelligence because if you haven't heard it the first time round, it'll come around again.
- James Fenton
Writing for the page is only one form of writing for the eye. Wherever solemn inscriptions are put up in public places, there is a sense that the site and the occasion demand a form of writing which goes beyond plain informative prose. Each word is so valued that the letters forming it are seen as objects of solemn beauty.
- James Fenton
Free verse seemed democratic because it offered freedom of access to writers. And those who disdained free verse would always be open to accusations of elitism, mandarinism. Open form was like common ground on which all might graze their cattle - it was not to be closed in by usurping landlords.
- James Fenton
What I want, when I write a poem, is no more than this: that it be preserved in some published form so that, in principle, someone, somewhere, will be able to find it and read it. That is all I need, as a poet, and that is the beauty, the luxury of my position. My lyric is mine and remains mine. Nobody can ruin it.
- James Fenton
For poets today or in any age, the choice is not between freedom on the one hand and abstruse French forms on the other. The choice is between the nullity and vanity of our first efforts, and the developing of a sense of idiom, form, structure, metre, rhythm, line - all the fundamental characteristics of this verbal art.
- James Fenton
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