A poem should be palpable and mute <br />As a globed fruit <br /> <br />Dumb <br />As old medallions to the thumb <br /> <br />Silent as the sleeve-worn stone <br />Of casement ledges where the moss has grown - <br /> <br />A poem should be wordless <br />As the flight of birds <br /> <br />A poem should be motionless in time <br />As the moon climbs <br /> <br />Leaving, as the moon releases <br />Twig by twig the night-entangled trees, <br /> <br />Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves, <br />Memory by memory the mind - <br /> <br />A poem should be motionless in time <br />As the moon climbs <br /> <br />A poem should be equal to: <br />Not true <br /> <br />For all the history of grief <br />An empty doorway and a maple leaf <br /> <br />For love <br />The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea - <br /> <br />A poem should not mean <br />But be<br /><br />Archibald MacLeish<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ars-poetica-2/
