Asger Jorn quote: “There is also, for instance, a direct symbolic strength in the words 'Say it with flowers', which makes that poem one o…”

“A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The seed-word is always so ordinary that hardly anyone perceives it. Classical odes grow from and or because, romantic lyrics from but or if.”

Alasdair Gray (1934–2019) Scottish writer and artist

Immature verses expand a personal pronoun ad nauseam, the greatest works bring glory to a common verb.
"Prometheus", pp. 208-9.
Unlikely Stories, Mostly (1983)

“The individual act of obedience is the cornerstone not only of the strength of authoritarian society but also of its weakness.”

Robert Anton Wilson book The Illuminatus! Trilogy

The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975)

“The best parts of this book grow out of poems and song lyrics.”

Zhiyanzhai

Comment on the scene in which Baoyu meets Hsiao-hung for the second time in chapter 25, as reported and quoted in Enchantment and Disenchantment: Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature by Wai-yee Li (Princeton University Press, 1993), footnote on p. 168

“A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The seed-word is always so ordinary that hardly anyone perceives it. Classical odes grow from and or because, romantic lyrics from but or if. Immature verses expand a personal pronoun ad nauseam, the greatest works bring glory to a common verb.”

Alasdair Gray (1934–2019) Scottish writer and artist

"Prometheus", pp. 208-9.
Unlikely Stories, Mostly (1983)

“A short poem is often called a lyric, which originally meant a poem short enough to be set to music and sung for a moment's pleasure.”

Herbert Read (1893–1968) English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art

Form in Modern Poetry(1932)

“Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day- like writing a poem or saying a prayer.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh book Gift from the Sea

Source: Gift from the Sea

“Before I start, like to make sure I'm smart. Gather my composure, rather my swagger
and my couture. Pivot my fitted, then begin to rivet, with a change of lyric. In other
words, I reposition how I sit it. Then make you feel it, like I mispronounced “filet.””

Lupe Fiasco (1982) rapper

"The Pen and the Needlez"
Mixtapes, Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is Among Us (2006)

“My poems are like a dagger
Sprouting flowers from the hilt;”

José Martí (1853–1895) Poet, writer, Cuban nationalist leader

Source: Simple Verses (1891), V
Context: My poems are like a dagger
Sprouting flowers from the hilt;
My poetry is like a fountain
Sprinkling streams of coral water.

“For Poetry is the wisdom of the blood,
That scarlet tree within, which has the power
To make dull words bud forth and burst in flower.”

Osbert Sitwell (1892–1969) British baronet

"When First the Poets Sung", line 47.
These lines were repeatedly drawn on by Sitwell in his later works.

“…Sometimes I’ll do these things for a couple of days then suddenly one day the poem comes out, just like that, in a couple of minutes. I might rewrite it later, a kind of fine tuning, or sometimes I’ll tell the audience it’s a new poem and just perform it to see if it works.”

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958) English poet and author

On his writing process in “Interview with Benjamin Zephaniah” https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/37/a-writers-toolkit/interviews-with-authors/interview-with-benjamin-zephaniah in Writers & Artists

“There is also, for instance, a direct symbolic strength in the words 'Say it with flowers', which makes that poem one of the cornerstones of Danish lyricism. It has stood out like a boot of an exceptionally fine fit..”

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Asger Jorn 48

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