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A side benefit of this essay: It succinctly states what makes poetry different from other forms of writing: Poetry is concerned primarily with creating images that delight us with their economy and elegance.
The Integrity of Poetry
Micah Mattix at First Things
Michael Oakeshott maintains that the intellectual life of a society is best understood as a conversation rather than a shared “inquiry, or debate among inquirers, about ourselves and the world we inhabit.” The problem with understanding public discourse as an inquiry, Oakeshott argues, is that it acknowledges only one “voice”—that of “argumentative discourse” or the language of “practical activity,” which Oakeshott associates principally with politics.
I'd rephrase: "The problem with understanding public discourse as an inquiry is that it acknowledges only one hemisphere: the left." Or perhaps: "Modern life understands intellectual life as a shared inquiry or debate, which is argumentative discourse and the language of practical activity, because modern life is dominated by the left hemisphere."
Related
Poetry is a holy waste — Dappled Things
“As a young girl, I heard my father say to me, “God is a mathematician.” He cited the stars, the way the planets move, the infinite complexity of creation, and physics. Possessing somewhat other than a passion for math myself, I protested…Mathematics are beautiful. And yet. And yet I can’t think God
Mary Lang
Learning Poetry at Substack
Poems Ancient and Modern | Substack
A look at poetry by Joseph Bottum and Sally Thomas. Click to read Poems Ancient and Modern, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
Poems Ancient and Modern
