“There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring off, but which the middle-aged man can't.”

— John Updike

As quoted in “When Writers Turn to Brave New Forms” by Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times (24 March 1986)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Do you have more details about the quote "There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring off, but which the middle-aged man can't." by John Updike?

John Updike 240

American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, an… 1932–2009

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“Bowls is a young man's game which old men can play.”

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“The middle man brings conceptual integrity to the system.”

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“Boyhood, like measles, is one of those complaints which a man should catch young and have done with, for when it comes in middle life it is apt to be serious.”

P.G. Wodehouse book The Adventures of Sally

The Adventures of Sally (1922)

“A Heroick Poem, truly such, is undoubtedly the greatest Work which the Soul of Man is capable to perform.”

John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century

The Works of Virgil translated into English verse by Mr. Dryden, Volume II (London, 1709), "Dedication", p. 213.

“Ain’t nothing an old man can do for me but bring me a message from a young one.”

Moms Mabley (1894–1975) American comedian and actress

['Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley' celebrates the groundbreaking African-American comedian, New York Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/whoopi-goldberg-presents-moms-mabley-tv-review-article-1.1518719, Hinckley, David, November 17, 2013, December 2, 2013]

“The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word.”

James A. Garfield (1831–1881) American politician, 20th President of the United States (in office in 1881)

The Province of History (c. 1856), Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 620
1850s
Context: The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains have been pealing along down the centuries, and though there have been mingled the discords of warring cannon and dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher and historian — the humble listener — there has been a Divine melody running through the song which speaks of hope and halcyon days to come.

“Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fullfilled only through man's subordination.”

Emma Goldman book Anarchism and Other Essays

Anarchism: What it Really Stands For http://books.google.com/books?id=U5ZYAAAAMAAJ&q="Anarchism+is+the+only+philosophy+which+brings+to+man+the+consciousness+of+himself+which+maintains+that+God+the+State+and+society+are+non-existent+that+their+promises+are+null+and+void+since+they+can+be+fullfilled+only+through+man's+subordination"&pg=PA58#v=onepage (1910)

“Sabi is the color of the poem. It does not necessarily refer to the poem that describes a lonely scene. If a man goes to war wearing stout armor or to a party dressed up in gay clothes, and if this man happens to be an old man, there is something lonely about him. Sabi is something like that.”

Bashō Matsuo (1644–1694) Japanese poet

sabi wa ku no iro nari. kanjaku naru ku wo iu ni arazu. tatoeba, roujin no katchuu wo taishi senjou ni hataraki, kinshuu wo kazari goen ni haberitemo, oi no sugata aru ga gotoshi.
Classical Japanese Database, Translation #42 http://carlsensei.com/classical/index.php/translation/view/42 (Translation: Robert Hass)
Statements

“Poems are the dreams of the universe crystallized in words.”

David Zindell book The Broken God

Source: The Broken God (1992), p. 296

“There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring off, but which the middle-aged man can't.”

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John Updike 240

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