Sri Aurobindo

Letters on Poetry and Art

SABCL - Volume 27

Part 2. On His Own and Others’ Poetry
Section 2. On Poets and Poetry
Remarks on Individual Poets

Wordsworth and Keats

It is better to be as simple and direct as possible in one’s writing.

One can’t make rigid rules like that. Wordsworth is as simple and direct as possible (not always though). Keats aims at word-magic. One can’t say Wordsworth is a greater poet than Keats. Whatever style is poetically successful, is admissible.

21 December 1935