Philip Larkin on Poetic Aspiration

He has said his aim in writing a poem is “to construct a verbal device that would preserve an experience indefinitely by reproducing it in whoever read the poem.” “The Art of Poetry No. 30,” Paris Review, Philip Larkin

Bolaño on Minor Works and Masterpieces

Before Archimboldi left, after they’d had a cup of tea, the man who rented him the typewriter said: “Jesus is the masterpiece. The thieves are minor works. Why are they there? Not to frame the crucifixion, as some innocent souls believe, but to hide it.” 2666, Roberto Bolaño