Question

"In a higher manner, the poet communicates the same pleasure. By a few strokes he delineates, as on air, the sun, the mountain, the camp, the city, the hero, the maiden, not different from what we know them, but only lifted from the ground and float before the eye. He unfixes the land and the sea, makes them revolve around the axis of his primary thought, and disposes them anew. Possessed himself by a heroic passion, he uses matter as symbols of it"

Answer 1

The passage discusses the unique power of poetry to transcend the literal and evoke deep human experiences. Poets use language, form, and imagination to create images and narratives that communicate complex emotions, shaping the reader's perspective through a crafted literary experience.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question is connected to the power of poetry and the role of the poet. Specifically, it revolves around how the poet, like an artist, creates and communicates experiences through imagination, employing language and form in unique ways. The passage describes the poet's ability to craft images and scenarios that transcend everyday perception, encapsulating emotions and concepts in a manner that is both artistic and communicative.

Poets are likened to painters or any other artist, who imitate either things as they are, as they are thought to be, or as they ought to be. The choice and arrangement of words, the use of metaphors, and the inflection of language contribute to poetry's effectiveness. Poetry is distinguished from prose in its allowance for the unusual, the exceptional, and the wondrous.

Poetry is thus a unique literary genre that offers the audience a profound experience through narrative, where poets employ a variety of literary devices to express a multitude of human experiences. This creativity is not confined by literal representation but can often delve into the fantastical to engage and provoke thought.