"I have invented [c. 1915-1916] a new series of verses, verses without words, or sound poems, in which the balancing of the vowels is gauged and distributed according to the value of the initial line.. .With these sound poems we should renounce language, devastated and made impossible by journalism. We should withdraw into the innermost alchemy of the word, and even surrender the word, thus conserving for poetry its most sacred domain. We should refuse to make poems second-hand; we should stop taking over words (not to mention sentences) which we did not invent entirely anew for our own use. We should no longer be content to achieve poetic effects which, in the final analysis, are but echoes of inspiration.."
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as quoted by Carol Rumens in her article 'Poem of the week: 'Gadji beri bimba' by Hugo Ball' in 'The Guardian', Monday 31 August 2009
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hugo_Ball
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Hugo Ball
1886 – 1927
deutscher Dichter, Schauspieler und Dramatiker
27 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Hugo Ball →
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