Sunday, December 24, 2006

Madness or wit?

A couple of weeks ago, I (foolishly) posed the question 'What is poetry?', and offered some of Billy Collins' observations on this.

Here's another 'answer', by the 17th Century English poet, Thomas Randolph.



From witty men and mad
All poetry conception had.

No sires but these will poetry admit:
Madness or wit.

This definition poetry doth fit:
It is a witty madness, or mad wit!

Only these two, poetic heat admits:
A witty man, or one that's out of his wits.

(Thomas Randolph, 1605-1635)


Which, I wonder, am I??


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