Poet and critic Paul Valéry once remarked that he could never write a novel because he would have to write sentences like, ‘The Marquis left at five’.
[n.b.: I ran across this anecdote again recently in David Markson's Reader's Block. The above is a paraphrase of his entry.]
Showing posts with label Paul Valéry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Valéry. Show all posts
entre nous
OBSCURITY, A PRODUCT OF TWO FACTORS. If my mind is richer, more rapid, freer, more disciplined than yours, neither you nor I can do anything about it.
—Paul Valéry, The Art of Poetry (Vintage, 1961), trans. by Denise Folliot.
—Paul Valéry, The Art of Poetry (Vintage, 1961), trans. by Denise Folliot.
strains and stains
Having verse set to music is like looking at a painting through a stained-glass window.
—Paul Valéry
—Paul Valéry
never finished
A poem is never finished: it's always an accident that puts a stop to it--i.e., gives it to
the public.
—Paul Valéry, "Littérature," Œuvres II (1960).
(W.H. Auden altered this statement to “Poems are never finished; they are abandoned.”)
—Paul Valéry, "Littérature," Œuvres II (1960).
(W.H. Auden altered this statement to “Poems are never finished; they are abandoned.”)
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