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Meaning
The quote says poetry begins with genuine feeling, but that feeling also needs structure to become poetry. It suggests that emotion may be natural, while technique can be learned. The balance of feeling and craft is what gives poetry its form.
When It Was Said
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Who It Was Said To
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Historical Context
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Source
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
No source found on Wikiquote; the quote is listed as attributed to Thomas Hardy.
Did You Know?
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About Thomas Hardy
English novelist, poet and architect
Thomas Hardy was an English novelist, poet and architect. A Victorian realist, he wrote about the tensions of his time and looked closely at social change, especially in rural Britain. He is known for novels and poetry shaped by both realism and Romanticism, including the influence of William Wordsworth. His work is often sharply critical of Victorian society, and it pays close attention to the changing position of rural people in Britain, especially in his native South West England.
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Poetry: more sayings
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Explore Nature
- “Our society is set up in a way that's so against the natural state of nature, and the way it's all initially…”Cody Simpson
- “You will be able to live as your authentic self when you find that infinite source of energy and that mind, b…”Ilchi Lee
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READ THE SOURCE
Books by Thomas Hardy
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
1920
The Mayor of Casterbridge
1983
Under the Greenwood Tree or, The Mellstock quire
1872
Jude the Obscure
2007
The Woodlanders
1887