Guess quote

John Crowe Ransom [1888-1974] American

Rank: 106
Poet, Critic

John Crowe Ransom was an American educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism.

Poetry

Quote	Tags	Rank
It is a miracle of harmony, of the adaptation of the free inner life to the outward necessity of things.		101
Now between the meanings of words and their sounds there is ordinarily no discoverable relation except one of accident; and it is therefore miraculous, to the mystic, when words which make sense can also make a uniform objective structure of accents and rhymes.		102
Till now poets were privileged to insert a certain proportion of nonsense - very far in excess of one-half of one per cent - into their otherwise sober documents.		103
The arts generally have had to recognize Modernism - how should poetry escape?	Poetry	104
And yet what is Modernism? It is undefined.		105
Their free verse was no form at all, yet it made history.		106
But we moderns are impatient and destructive.		107
For no art and no religion is possible until we make allowances, until we manage to keep quiet the enfant terrible of logic that plays havoc with the other faculties.		108
And how can poetry stand up against its new conditions? Its position is perfectly precarious.	Poetry	109
Or he can work it out as a metrical and formal exercise, but he will be disappointed in its content. The New Year's prospect fairly chills his daunting breast.		110
When critics are waiting to pounce upon poetic style on exactly the same grounds as if it were prose, the poets tremble.		111
Too much is demanded by the critic, attempted by the poet.		112
He can develop sense and style, in the manner of distinguished modern prose, in which event he may be sure that the result will not fall into any objective form.		113

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