“Our poetry, on the contrary, has a language peculiar to itself, to which almost every one that has written has added something.” Presenting poetic language as a tradition continually enriched by individual writers · Letter to Richard West, 8 April 1742 Language Poetry Tradition
“The language of the age is never the language of poetry.” Expressing his belief that poetry requires a language distinct from ordinary contemporary speech · Letter to Richard West, 8 April 1742 Language Poetry Style
