Charles Olson

“It comes to this: the use of a man, by himself and thus by others, lies in how he conceives his relation to nature… . If he is contained within his nature as he is participant in the larger force, he will be able to listen, and his hearing through himself will give him secrets objects share. And by an inverse law his shapes will make their own way… . This is not easy. Nature works from reverence, even in her destructions (species go down with a crash). But breath is man’s special qualification as animal. Sound is a dimension he has extended. Language is one of his proudest acts… . I keep thinking, it comes to this: culture displacing the state.” —Charles Olson