It is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem, –a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit of a plant or an animal it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing. The thought and the form are equal in the order of time, but in the order of genesis the thought is prior to the form. Ralph Waldo Emerson
About This Quote

The quality of a poem depends upon the power of the ideas within the poem. The form of the poem is merely a tool that enables those ideas to appear in order. Ideas are arrived at through thought and they are not the same as words. Each idea must be expressed through words.

What makes Shakespeare's sonnets so powerful is that they are based on ideas that he has already expressed in previous poems. Each sonnet is like a miniature essay, with an introduction, an argument or thesis, and examples to support it. The form of each sonnet is perfect for expressing his thoughts.

They are also beautiful and memorable for many readers.

Source: The Essays Of Ralph Waldo Emerson

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More Quotes By Ralph Waldo Emerson
  1. Love, and you shall be loved.
  2. He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.
  3. The Artist always has the masters in his eyes.
  4. Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
  5. It is not the length of life, but the depth.
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