"For the difference between poets and novelists is this - that the former write for the life of the language - and the latter write for the betterment of the world".
(Possession - a Romance by A.S.Byatt)
And which, I wonder, is more sacred of the two.
ReplyDeletebe careful with putting people in pigeon holes, Fareen...i've known some poets who wrote for the betterment of the world, and i've perused some novels the world would likely be better off without...
ReplyDeletep.s. very sorry for getting your name wrong, Fahreen...i should heed my own advice to be more careful..
Deleteamazng,i did it again....after making such a fool of myself, i'll bet i'll remember your name now, Farheen
DeleteThird time lucky!
DeleteThe funny thing is that this statement from the book 'Possession' (Byatt) was said (or written in a letter to be more precise) by a character who was a poet!
The world works in strange ways....
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ReplyDeleteit's certainly an interesting and insightful quote from one person's point of view, whether he/she is described as a poet or not...i would also expect that it's a reflection on the poets and novelists that Ms Byatt knew at the time, and she thus used one of her characters to express what she observed...and i sense that you found it true in your experience as well, else you would not have included it as a post on your blog....but my point was that's it's not universally true, which i'm sure you'll realize if you give it some thought...and it should also be obvious from my initial comment that in my experience, the opposite has often the case with many poets that i've known...true, i've known poets who are mostly wordsmiths, who as Ms Byatt says, "write for the life of the language"...but the poets of my generation who i knew & read the most were drawn to the written word for it's ability to precipitate change in the human condition, and hence wrote for the betterment of the world...
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