"Certainly Mr Eliot in the twenties was responsible for a great vogue for verse-satire. An ideal formula of ironic, gently "satiric", self-expression was provided by that master for the undergraduate underworld, tired and thirsty for poetic fame in a small way. The results of Mr Eliot are not Mr Eliot himself: but satire with him has been the painted smile of the clown. Habits of expression ensuing from mannerism are, as a fact, remote from the central function of satire. In its essence the purpose of satire — whether verse or prose — is aggression. (When whimsical, sentimental, or "poetic" it is a sort of bastard humour.) Satire has a great big glaring target. If successful, it blasts a great big hole in the center. Directness there must be and singleness of aim: it is all aim, all trajectory."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Novelists from EnglandEssayists from EnglandPolitical authors from EnglandNovelists from CanadaPolitical authors from Canada
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
As quoted in ed., Contemporary Verse (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 61.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewis
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Wyndham Lewis
Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was an English polemicist, novelist, essayist, critic and Vorticist painter.
42 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Wyndham Lewis →
Related Quotes
"Morality is of the surface. But also the values that decide whether a person is ridiculous or free from absurdity are…"
"Satire to be good must be unfair and single-minded. To be backed by intense anger is good — though absolutely not nec…"
"1. Laughter is the Wild Body's song of triumph. 2. Laughter is the climax in the tragedy of seeing, hearing and smell…"
"It could perhaps be asserted, even, that the greatest Satire cannot be moralistic at all: if for no other reason, bec…"
"The art of advertisement, after the American manner, has introduced into all our life such a lavish use of superlativ…"
"I have been called a Rogue Elephant, a Cannibal Shark, and a crocodile. I am none the worse. I remain a caged, and ra…"
"You as a Fascist stand for the small trader against the chain-store; for the peasant against the usurer; for the nati…"
"Is it with us a compensatory fact that, being more stupid in the mass, we shoot up higher, when we do shoot up, in da…"
"The prime essential in the solution of the "Jewish problem" is to eradicate entirely from our minds all prejudice and…"
"We have the immense background of War and of Revolution. That is enough — the blood is gratis! Both the soldier and t…"