The statement that "The writer who maintains that he works without regard for the opinion of others is either a jackass or a pathological liar" is quite thought-provoking.
HA! This simple exclamation shows the author's strong reaction to this idea.
I truly love this book. It has such profound and interesting content that I will definitely return to it repeatedly.
Especially for the teaching aphorisms it contains. These aphorisms are like precious pearls, offering valuable insights and wisdom.
They can inspire readers, make them think deeply about various aspects of life and work, and help them gain a better understanding of the world and themselves.
This book is not only a source of entertainment but also a great educational tool.
It enriches our minds and broadens our horizons, making us more mature and intelligent.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves reading and seeking knowledge.
Eternal apprenticeship is the life of the true poet. This profound statement is from Selected notebook entries (1949-53), first published in Shenandoah, and then in Straw for the Fire.
This collection, which is filled with a wide variety of prose, ranging from concise aphorisms to meandering remarks, is a remarkable volume of poetic guidance by one of the greatest masters of the form. For instance, on just two pages (80-81), the author of the second-most famous villanelle in the English language (after Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night) provides us with precise advice on three crucial aspects of poetry: rhythm (\\"rhythm depends on expecting\\"), diction (\\"often a very good figure from another level or range will jar\\"), and moments (\\"beware the poetry of moments\\"). This is the most solid advice that a beginner, unformed writer (56: \\"the beginning writer is often neither bad nor good, but simply unformed\\") could ever hope to receive.
However, Roethke's advice goes beyond generalities. At times, the master (Papa, as he would self-deprecatingly refer to himself) also focuses on specific technical details, even down to the level of the line itself. This is evident when he comments on the lines: \\"It was my life, or so I said / And I did well, forsaking it / To go as quickly as the dead.\\" Roethke explains that \\"the technical trick is in the manipulation of the pause, the caesura, on the fourth and sixth syllables\\" (58).
So, through him and this invaluable collection, we can learn by imitation - which is itself the subject of an entire essay in the book - by imitating his verse, his analysis, his rhythms, and his poetic sensibility. And perhaps, after a lifetime of apprenticeship, all we can do is to \\"Be still\\" and \\"Wait.\\"