6.20.2013

sound and structure

And I'd done a lot of reading. James Huneker on music. And a lot of poetry—Milton, Shelley, Whitman. Robinson Jeffers came along in the '20s or later—he was tremendous. I liked Milton for the same reason I liked Jeffers, the sound and the structure. I don't believe anything that Milton wrote about, but it has a wonderful presence.

—Ansel Adams, from in his last interview, ART NEWS, Volume 83/No 6, interview by Milton Esterow.

2 comments:

Conrad DiDiodato said...

"I don't believe anything that Milton wrote about, but it has a wonderful presence"

I think Milton wouldn't have wanted it any other way...

JforJames said...

What could be better than a poem with 'presence'. Probably the attribute we recognize without thinking about it. Probably it's the composite of all the individual attributes we look for in poetry.