{"id":96,"date":"2025-10-03T11:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/?p=96"},"modified":"2025-10-03T12:37:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T16:37:55","slug":"ars-poetica-by-archibald-macleish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/ars-poetica-by-archibald-macleish\/","title":{"rendered":"Ars Poetica, by Archibald MacLeish"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Of all the classically trained and educated members of the ruling class of mid-twentieth America, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poets\/archibald-macleish\" target=\"_blank\">Archibald MacLeish<\/a>, for all his other distinctions, is the only one to collaborate with Bob Dylan on a Broadway musical (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/11\/03\/theater\/bob-dylan-scratch-broadway-macleish.html\" target=\"_blank\">which Dylan pulled out of<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>This poem is the ultimate utility poem because it is made up of its own blueprint!<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"model-title\">Ars Poetica<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">A poem should be palpable and mute<br \/>\nAs a globed fruit<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">Dumb<br \/>\nAs old medallions to the thumb,<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">Silent as the sleeve-worn stone<br \/>\nOf casement ledges where the moss has grown &#8211; <\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">A poem should be wordless<br \/>\nAs the flight of birds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"al-fourth\">*<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">A poem should be motionless in time<br \/>\nAs the moon climbs,<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">Leaving, as the moon releases<br \/>\nTwig by twig the night-entangled trees,<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,<br \/>\nMemory by memory the mind &#8211; <\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">A poem should be motionless in time<br \/>\nAs the moon climbs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"al-fourth\">*<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">A poem should be equal to:<br \/>\nNot true.<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">For all the history of grief<br \/>\nAn empty doorway and a maple leaf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">For love<br \/>\nThe leaning grasses and two lights above the sea &#8211; <\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">A poem should not mean<br \/>\nBut be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"model\">Archibald MacLeish<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Of all the classically trained and educated members of the ruling class of mid-twentieth America, Archibald MacLeish, for all his other distinctions, is the only one to collaborate with Bob Dylan on a Broadway musical (which Dylan pulled out of.) This poem is the ultimate utility poem because it is made up of its own [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-model-poems","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}