ART, T RA D I T ION, AND TRUT H
25
seeks a mode of perception that leaves behind the disunity of modern
man. And Rilke, like Nietzsche, is an outstanding representative of a
non-positivistic sensibility in which thought and emotion interpene–
trate.
In sum: I cannot agree that the philosopher is interested "in
the thought itself" while the poet is not. Many philosophers are alto–
gether too exclusively concerned with the relation of a thought to
other thoughts, and too little with the thought itself. They are inter–
ested in its consistency with other ideas and in the adequacy of argu–
ments in which it appears either as a link or as a conclusion; but
they are "not necessarily interested in the thought itself"--often much
less so than the poet. Most men, including many philosophers, discuss
the truth of beliefs without any clear notion of their meaning--of
their many possible meanings. What the poet, however, is supremely
interested in and can teach the philosopher is the meaning of thoughts;
and where this is ignored, any discussion of truth is likely to degen–
erate into the most arid scholasticism. The relation between philoso–
pher and poet is not a one-way affair, and least of all does the poet
give polished expression to the ideas of the philosopher.
VII
What does the great poet do? I have rejected the tradi–
tionalists' account of the relation of poetry to tradition, reality, and
truth: they fail to recognize the essential autonomy of poetry which
subverts stereotypes hallowed by tradition, changes our perception of
reality, and makes accepted truths questionable by making us aware
of the concrete meanings of ideas.
The poet does not imitate reality. This Greek conception, which
was originally suggested by epic and dramatic poetry, does not do
justice to Homer and Sophocles any more than to Shakespeare. The
great poet is the enemy of our everyday reality: he makes that which
we have seen with our own eyes appear as a mere shadow of that
reality which we encounter in
Oedipus
or
Lear, Prometheus
or
The
Brothers Karamazov.
He shows us that we live on the surface and
are all but blind, and says in Rilke's words: "you must change your
life."
In drama and epic, novel and lyrical poem, the poet records
