Thursday, November 8


          "We know that an idea, a novel or a poem, may begin
at some point or germ, grow, finding its being and necessary
form, rhythm and life as the germ evolves in relation to its
environment of language and experience in life. This is an art
that rises from a deep belief in the universe as a medium of
forms, in man's quest as a spiritual evolution.
          "In contrast, conventional art, with its conviction that
form means adherence to an imposed order where metric
and rime are means of conformation, rises from a belief that
man by artifice must win his forms (as models, reproductions
or paradigms) against his nature, areas of control in a universe
that is a matter of chaos."

--Robert Duncan

fr. The Day Book as excerpted in The Gist of Origin:
1951-1971 [New York: Grossman/Viking Press, 1975]