Ars Poetica By Archibald Macleish

Ars Poetica

By Archibald Macleish

A poem should be palpable and mute

As a globed fruit,

Dumb

As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone

Of casement ledges where the moss has grown –

A poem should be wordless

As the flight of birds.

A poem should be motionless in time

As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases

Twing by twing the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,

Memory by memory the mind –

A poem should be motionless in time

As the moon climbs.

A poem should be equal to:

Not true.

For all the history of grief

As empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love

The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea –

A poem should be not mean

But be.

Retired from:

VIZIOLI, Paulo. Poetas Norte Americanos. Antologia Bilingue. São Paulo: Lidador, 1974.