A purple wildflower grows through a brass tuning fork planted in moss beside a small feather.

Original artwork, not a still

Lectures on the English Poets  ·  1818

William Hazlitt

Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for poetry, cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Poetry is described as the shared language between the heart and the natural world, and between a person and their own inner self. From there the speaker argues that looking down on poetry signals a lack of self-respect, and of respect for everything else too.

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