SOURCE: "A Poem Is a Walk," in Epoch, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Fall, 1968, pp. 114-19.

In the following essay, which was first presented as a lecture in 1967, Ammons considers the difficulty of defining poetry. He concludes by offering two observations: "poetry is a mode of discourse that differs from logical exposition…. [and leads us to the unstructured sources of our beings, to the unknown, and returns us to our rational, structured selves refreshed."]

Nothing that can be said
in words is worth saying.

Laotse

I don't know whether I can sustain myself for thirty minutes of saying I know nothing—or that I need to try, since I might prove no more than you already suspect, or, even worse, persuade you of the fact. Nothingness contains no images to focus and brighten the mind, no contrarieties to build up muscular tension: it has no place for argumentation and persuasion...