Literary Birthday – 25 April – James Fenton

James Fenton Quotes

1. Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done.
2. One does not become a guru by accident.
3. Generally speaking, rhyme is the marker for the end of a line. The first rhyme-word is like a challenge thrown down, which the poem itself has to respond to.
4. I prefer writing in the mornings, so to that extent I have a routine. I do reading and other things in the afternoon.
5. Lyric poetry is, of course, musical in origin. I do know that what happened to poetry in the twentieth century was that it began to be written for the page.
6. The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint.
7. The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation.

James Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is ‘known for his diverse verse styles and liberal political views. He studied at the Chorister School in Durham and later at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry in 1968’. Fenton was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1983. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry (1994–99).  He was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2007 and won the PEN Pinter Prize in 2015. He is the author of An Introduction to English Poetry. Visit his website.

Source for image: Author’s Website

by Amanda Patterson

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