That behind every word
a whole world
is hidden that must be imagined.
Actually,
every word has a great burden of memories,
not only just of one person but of all mankind.
Take a word such as bread,
or war;
take a word such as chair,
or bed
or Heaven.
Behind every word is a whole world.
I'm afraid that most people use words as something to throw away
without sensing the burden that lies in a word.
Of course,
that is what is significant about poetry,
or the lyric,
in which this can be brought about more intensiely than in prose,
although prose has the same function.
Heinrich Boll, on language and imagination
Art of Fiction interview in issue 87, The Paris Review
a whole world
is hidden that must be imagined.
Actually,
every word has a great burden of memories,
not only just of one person but of all mankind.
Take a word such as bread,
or war;
take a word such as chair,
or bed
or Heaven.
Behind every word is a whole world.
I'm afraid that most people use words as something to throw away
without sensing the burden that lies in a word.
Of course,
that is what is significant about poetry,
or the lyric,
in which this can be brought about more intensiely than in prose,
although prose has the same function.
Heinrich Boll, on language and imagination
Art of Fiction interview in issue 87, The Paris Review
Labels: literature, poetry
