The Saunterer

Samuel Taylor Coleridge on the difference between prose and poetry

    He made the distinction simple:

    I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry, that is, prose—words in their best order; poetry—the best words in their best order.

    (Quoted from page 55 of The Way to Write, by John Fairfax and John Moat. St. Martin’s Press, 1981.)
    For a brief biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, click here. For images of or relating to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, click here.

Alexander Skutch on the likeness of emotions of people and birds

    Alexander Skutch’s insight:

    It is remarkable how often the sounds that birds make suggest the emotions that we might feel in similar circumstances: soft notes like lullabies while warming their eggs or nestlings; mournful cries while helplessly watching an intruder at their nests; harsh or grating sounds while threatening or attacking an enemy. . . . Birds so frequently respond to events in tones such as we might use that we suspect their emotions are similar to our own.

    (Quoted from page 53 of The Animal Manifesto, by Marc Bekoff. New World Library, 2010.)
    For a brief biography of Alexander Skutch, click here. For images of or relating to Alexander Skutch, click here.