Ironically, the passion that can neutralize the repulsion for difficulties depends on the effort to overcome these difficulties. The irony resides in the circularity of this principle ? which applies to all areas of activity, including poetry: One must make the effort to overcome difficulties to achieve success and feel capable, and one needs this achievement and feeling to have a passion for making this effort.
How can one enter this circle without this passion? In other words, how does one resolve the quasi-contradiction according to which one cannot passionately start the effort to overcome difficulties before it has ended successfully?
If difficulties are deemed insurmountable, mistakenly or not, the repulsion for them is absolute. In that case, nothing will motivate the effort to succeed, except an outside authority that can dictate this effort, or an outside influence that can generate faith and stimulate courage. In every other case where the seriousness of the difficulties is open to doubt, one may try one's luck with mixed feelings.
Assuming one tries, the result of this effort will constitute additional self-knowledge that will inform one's future choices. A positive outcome will act as a positive reinforcement that emboldens one to try again, with increased confidence and reduced hesitation; a negative outcome will do the opposite.
Should one refuse to try one's luck, this would slow one's progress, but not necessarily stop it. Confidence can be increased and hesitation reduced by degrees, through a series of baby steps that can eventually lead to triumph. All in all, people have more than one trick up their sleeve to succeed in life, though they cannot escape the necessity of achieving success to develop a passion for the difficult task of living.
As regards poetry, success may be achieved in a roundabout and gradual way. Take a young educated man who has a sense of imagery and a desire to express himself. While his education has prepared him for the written expression of his feelings and thoughts, this sense and this desire together drive him to write poetically, though he has no pretensions to composing a poem.
This first step is a manner of kickoff that gets the ball rolling. He becomes aware of his poetic ability within the limits of his poetic writing. What is more, he catches a glimpse of the poetry that is a blur in this writing and could emerge from the prose like a landscape from the fog. His potential as a future poet is thus faintly discernible. It assumes the form of an inkling whose haziness will progressively dissipate as further poetic efforts are made successfully. In the end the young man sees himself as a young poet. He is eager to grapple with the difficulties of writing poetry because he is confident that he will overcome them and delight in this achievement.
Laurent Grenier's writing career spans over twenty years. During this time he has broadened and deepened his worldview, by dint of much reflection and study, and in the end has crafted "A Reason for Living," his best work to date.
Official web site: http://laurentgrenier.com/arfl.html
Rolling Meadows Cadillac Escalade rental .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareI will never think twice nor will I roll the... Read More
It's dark, it's cold, its' just six thirty,thoughts of sleep... Read More
The Goat and the Ropewhere there were devils I saw... Read More
Wars, air of AmbiguityDedicated to 1st. Lt. Laura Walker (From... Read More
Tale of the Brick Maker, Of San Jer?nimo, Peru... Read More
"Song of the Great Zimbabwe"Across the African, winter's skyIn the... Read More
1) Shadows of the Andes [or: Song to the Andes]I... Read More
The Torrents of HellHell's furnace- Likened to a chimney Vomits... Read More
There I sat, ninety-five degree weatherOutside; the bookstore caf?, was... Read More
When your life becomes unbearable And the light of... Read More
Note: written after seeing the little adobe 16th century church... Read More
Have you ever read the lyrics of a Simon and... Read More
"Beautiful Dreamer" was written by Stephen Foster just before his... Read More
Emlyn Williams Theatre, Mold, North Wales: 20th February 2003Clwyd Theatr... Read More
In early fall, in Minnesota, the rain falls, falls, In... Read More
I am not the one I was before yesterday.I cannot... Read More
Stone Beds [Pompeii's surge]Advance: after the great eruption of Pompeii's... Read More
Kamalakanta was born in Burdwan India in the late 18th... Read More
English VersionAnd the Death God said: "Let it rise to... Read More
Bells for Belphegor!...Where immortal veils never meet Belphegor, Arch devil... Read More
I AM SO GRATEFUL for simpler times. Stores were closed... Read More
My eyes opened. I am still alive; Living on... Read More
Let's follow the poet to his Hell and heaven! Count... Read More
She probably can't remember and I know I can never... Read More
During interviews and general conversations with the public,one of the... Read More
Des Moines rental limo ..Part One Midget HistoryI am thirty-six inches tall, that is... Read More
The Monster Mash The Graveyard SmashHave you heard of the... Read More
Phantom of the Rocks[Huancayo, Peru]Night falls deepUpon the traveler!Low, over... Read More
Blind DesignsBorn today, gone tomorrow Like a butterfly with no... Read More
Robert Burns, a poor man, an educated man, and a... Read More
You can do and you can be whatever you want.... Read More
Like a cat I slumber, blissfully unencumbered, Through eighty per... Read More
Asha of DarfurCry, cry-oh little Darfur woman For your sister... Read More
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" was written by America's... Read More
The light of all eternity shines with me now /... Read More
Way of Life: Rhymes of the IncaPizarro (Spanish conquistador ((1525))The... Read More
Once upon a midnight dreary, coffee cold and vision... Read More
"How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning was... Read More
My eyes opened. I am still alive; Living on... Read More
Four Poems: Katrina's PathwayHarvest of Apoplectic Horses ((Dedicated to: Katrina))... Read More
Chicken Soup is good for a coldSleep is good for... Read More
Poems have different cores, or so I believe, and can... Read More
Azra, Azra, Wake up Azra. Wake up Azra, It is... Read More
How I wonder what he's doing as I sit alone... Read More
Tale of the Brick Maker, Of San Jer?nimo, Peru... Read More
Lord Byron's opening couplet to "She Walks In Beauty" is... Read More
1.Evil's CreationThou knowith evil clings To tender peace-; Nor does... Read More
the disease of extremism is infectious-; whoever cannot think of... Read More
There I sat, ninety-five degree weatherOutside; the bookstore caf?, was... Read More
Lima, City with the Stretched out WingsIt's an ink-black... Read More
Poetry |