Great Regulars: What if [John Crowe] Ransom had used

saddened instead? How flat, how empty of the truth of the moment! He wanted that touch of anger, of distress that the world can take away such liveliness. The power of a good poem is that its short lines, its choice of line breaks, calls our attention to the words. We become skilled at listening harder, and that makes us less vulnerable to manipulation.

Bells for John Whiteside's Daughter

from Fleda Brown: Traverse City Record-Eagle: On Poetry: Word power makes us listen

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