Imagination, Inspiration and Evasion: Frederico Garcia Lorca on Poetry

Furthermore, as everyone knows by now, one must love poetry. Poetry is like faith – it isn’t meant to be understood but to be received in a state of grace. No one should say “this is clear,” because poetry is obscure. And no one should say “this is obscure,” because poetry is clear. What we must do is search out poetry energetically and virtuously so that it will surrender to us. But we need to have forgotten poetry completely before it can fall naked into our arms….The imagination hovers over reason the way fragrance hovers over a flower, wafted on the breeze but tied, always, to the ineffable center of its origin…As long as he does not try to free himself from the world, the poet can live happily in his golden poverty…The mission of the poet is just that – to give life (animar), in the exact sense of the word: to give soul…Poetry doesn’t need skilled practitioners, she needs lovers, and she lays down brambles and shards of glass for the hands that search for her with love.