Basil's quote...

[SmokeBellew]

The other day I was planning to write a new poem while writing I remembered Basil Hallward's quote from The Picture Of Dorian Gray. Then I rushed to my room and managed to find the book in 10 or 15 minutes, and it was all in dust. I searched the pages and found those lines:

"An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them. We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a from of autobiography. We have lost the abstract sense of beauty."
(from a dialogue with Lord Henry)

So, when it comes to poetry, do you think Basil was right??? I can't disagree with him. I always preffered the poems which told a certain story to those which told the author's story or a few moments from his life. Of course, each poet may put something of his (her) own experiences into poems, sometimes it doesn't even depend on him (her). Many writers do it. But some can hide it, and some can not.

So, my question is short, do you agree with Basil Hallward?

[blondeatheart]

Of course, i totally agree...while it isnt entirely possible to completely exclude some sort of inspiration taken from life, it should depict something abstract, something that is far from this reality, for i dare say we have enough reality as it is. It should at most be based on a feeling, a thought, a moment, not a time - for time is reality, and without it we have eternity