“ The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize. ”
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). copy citation
| Author | Oscar Wilde |
|---|---|
| Source | The Picture of Dorian Gray |
| Topic | poetry writing |
| Date | 1890 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm |
Context
“Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are. A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating. The worse their rhymes are, the more picturesque they look. The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize. "I wonder is that really so, Harry?" said Dorian Gray, putting some perfume on his handkerchief out of a large, gold-topped bottle that stood on the table. "It must be, if you say it. And now I am off.”
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