“Language is at the heart of poetry and it is difficult to commandeer words which elicit no personal echo. Of what we can speak, we need not be silent.”

— Dennis O'Driscoll

Interview with Eugene O'Connell 'Cork Literary Review vol xiii 2009
Poetry Quotes

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Dennis O'Driscoll 30

Irish poet, critic 1954–2012

Related quotes

“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry painting that speaks.”

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Quoted by Plutarch, De gloria Atheniensium 3.346f http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0234%3Astephpage%3D346f.
Variant translations:
Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech.
Painting is silent poetry, poetry is eloquent painting.
See also: Ut pictura poesis

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“Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting.”

Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher

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“We must realize the extent to which it is necessary that our knowledge of language be based on history. Only history can impart to words that degree of precision which we need in order to understand them well.”

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Context: What is it that we humans depend on? We depend on our words... Our task is to communicate experience and ideas to others. We must strive continually to extend the scope of our description, but in such a way that our messages do not thereby lose their objective or unambiguous character … We are suspended in language in such a way that we cannot say what is up and what is down. The word "reality" is also a word, a word which we must learn to use correctly.