Gift/ Lewis Hyde (introduction) – Reading Response

“‘Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me,’ says D.H. Lawrence. Not all artists emphasize the “gift” phrase of their creations to the degree that Lawrence does, but all artists feel it.”

This quote initially stood out to me because I’m currently taking an anglophone poetry course and we had just analyzed a D.H. Lawrence poem in class today. However, the more I read Lawrence’s quote, the more interpretations I’m able to gather from it. One way I interpret the quote is that Lawrence is referring to the distinction between the artist and their work when says “Not I”. However, my second interpretation, which is more true to the content of the introduction, is that the presence of a “gift” or “a-ha” moment triggers the creative spark inside every artist. I would personally disagree with this statement, since I feel like determination and hard-work is more likely to achieve solid results and/or improvement as opposed to having a natural talent for a particular medium.

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