Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's rival and admirer, wrote in his commentary to the First Folio edition of the plays that the late Shakespeare's genius lay not just in his brilliant inspirations, but just as much in his tenacious willingness to revise until he got it right:
he
Who casts to write a living line, must sweat,
(Such as thine are) and strike the second heat
Upon the Muses' anvil; turn the same,
(And himself with it) that he thinks to frame;
Or for the laurel he may gain a scorn,
For a good poet's made as well as born.
And such wert thou.
Made as well as born. Even him.
Exactly! "Perfect" words right off the bat are usually phrases, but anything with length, from sentences to paragraphs to poems to lengthy novels, have to be "created." God Himself "created" the universe and everything in it. It's a process :)
ReplyDeleteDonna: it surely is a process, and I thought it was good to be reminded that it was one even for The Bard himself. Thank you for your comment!
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