Advice to young poets visiting the Whipple
22nd January 2013 | 0 Comment(s) | Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Remember: poems are not descriptions of things.
Don’t look for ‘something to write about’. Let it look for you. Poets don’t really write ‘about’ things – they write with them.
When your object finds you, make a meticulous description of it, so you can remember it. Take a picture on your phone if you can. Make notes on its history, use, inventor – you never know which of these details will spark a great poem.
As we say, ‘subject matter is pretext’. That means that despite the fact you think you’re writing about Newton’s prism – it’ll often turn out to be an excuse to write about something else. Chances are your object will really be a symbol or a metaphor of some feeling, event, situation, idea, person, buried memory – that will surprise you.
