“The arts have a complex relation to society. The poet isn’t a fixed phenomenon, no more is his work.”
Introduction
The Wedge (1944)
Context: A man isn’t a block that remains stationary though the psychologists treat him so — and most take an insane pride in believing it. Consistency! He varies; Hamlet today, Caesar tomorrow; here, there, somewhere — if he is to retain his sanity, and why not?
The arts have a complex relation to society. The poet isn’t a fixed phenomenon, no more is his work.
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William Carlos Williams 83
American poet 1883–1963Related quotes

Quote, 1937; in Gabo's letter to Herbert Read; cited in: Cyril Connolly (1944) Horizon: a review of literature and art. Vol 9-10. p. 58
1936 - 1977

“Everything you have is to give. Thou art a phenomenon of philosophy and an unfortunate man.”
Source: For Whom The Bell Tolls

“The Poet in his Art
Must intimate the whole, and say the smallest part.”
The Unexpressed.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

Letter to H. E. Kramer, 25-10-1926, as quoted in: Bram van Velde, A Tribute, Municipal Museum De Lakenhal Leiden, Municipal Museum Schiedam, Museum de Wieger, Deurne 1994, p. 44 (English translation: Charlotte Burgmans)
1920's
'Search for the Real in the Visual Arts', p. 45
Search for the Real and Other Essays (1948)