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The statement of ideas in a poem may have to do with logic. More profoundly, it may be identified with the emotional progression of the poem, in terms of the music and images, so that the poem is alive throughout.
Another, more fundamental statement in poetry, is made through the images themselves — those declarations, evocative, exact, and musical, which move through time and are the actions of a poem.

— Muriel Rukeyser The Life of Poetry (1949)

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More quotes by Muriel Rukeyser

The meanings of poetry take their growth through the interaction of the images and the music of the poem.

The Life of Poetry (1949)

Moment to moment, we can grow, if we can bring ourselves to meet the moment with our lives.

The Life of Poetry (1949)

The poetic image is not a static thing. It lives in time, as does the poem.

The Life of Poetry (1949)

The cutting of films is a parable in the motion of any art that lives in time, as well as a parable in the ethics of communication.

The Life of Poetry (1949)

Belief has its structures, and its symbols change. Its tradition changes. All the relationships within these forms are inter-dependent.

The Life of Poetry (1949)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Muriel Rukeyser (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.