A glance at the history of European poetry is enough to inform us that rhyme itself is not indispensable. Latin poetry in the classical age had no use for it, and the kind of Latin poetry that does rhyme - as for instance the medieval 'Carmina Burana' - tends to be somewhat crude stuff in comparison with the classical verse that doesn't.
About This Quote
About James Fenton
James Fenton was a contemporary English poet, journalist and literary critic. James Martin Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- History — Lessons from the past and the arc of human civilisation