And yet what is Modernism? It is undefined.

quote by John C. Ransom
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But we moderns are impatient and destructive.

quote by John C. Ransom
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Their free verse was no form at all, yet it made history.

quote by John C. Ransom
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Too much is demanded by the critic, attempted by the poet.

quote by John C. Ransom
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The arts generally have had to recognize Modernism - how should poetry escape?

quote by John C. Ransom
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And how can poetry stand up against its new conditions? Its position is perfectly precarious.

quote by John C. Ransom
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It is a miracle of harmony, of the adaptation of the free inner life to the outward necessity of things.

quote by John C. Ransom
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When critics are waiting to pounce upon poetic style on exactly the same grounds as if it were prose, the poets tremble.

quote by John C. Ransom
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Or he can work it out as a metrical and formal exercise, but he will be disappointed in its content. The New Year's prospect fairly chills his daunting breast.

quote by John C. Ransom
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He can develop sense and style, in the manner of distinguished modern prose, in which event he may be sure that the result will not fall into any objective form.

quote by John C. Ransom
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