National Poetry Copycopycopy Day

TS Eliot (portrait by Wyndham Lewis 1938)

Today is National Poetry Day in the UK.

So I thought I’d spoilt it for you by reminding you of the central role of copying in poetry (HT Sara)

You’re almost certainly aware of Picasso’s famous dictum, “talent copies, genius steals” (if not in the original, then as stolen by my good buddy Faris)

But poet and critic TS Eliot out it even better: for him copying was not just common but central. Indeed, for Eliot the way a poet copies is a signifier of the quality of his/her work.

“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.” 

Of course, we like to tell ourselves otherwise as we seek to make new things or have new ideas – and it may be necessary to tell ourselves this as part of the process – but the truth is this: copying is at the heart of originality and creativity.

And a better bet than waiting for the muse to appear and bestow her gifts on you.