Just an Interesting Quote...
"The genius of poetry is not related to time. Poetry does not follow science. Poetry doesn't get better as time passes by. Science gets better, but poetry does not."
-Derek Walcott
posted by maxine at 4:13 PM
2 Comments:
I somewhat disagree with this quote in saying some poetry can become better over time. One specific aspect I am thinking about is when poetry written in the 1800s can still hold so much meaning and be so accurately descriptive in present day, even though so much has changed...
I wonder though if there might be another way to interpret this notion of an unchanging poetry posited against the always progressing pursuit of scientific truth. Perhaps Walcott here gives us a critique of the kinds of scientific positivism we've discussed in class. Poetry "not getting better over time," then becomes a kind of resistant agent against dangerous forms of scientific progressivism (where knowledge is sought, technological advances gained and ethically questionable decisions made in the name of "bettering" science, even to the harm of peoples, animals, the environment, etc..).
Poetry, perhaps, exists in a time and space that is somehow separate from the time, space, and march of science and therefore, provides a different way of seeking knowledge of and in the world.
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