*Poetry ... takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity*
(Preface to the *Lyrical Ballads* )
People are always quoting that and all of them seem to agree
And it's probably most unwise to admit that it's different for me.
I have emotion - no one who knows me could fail to detect it -
But there's a serious shortage of tranquillity in which to recollect it.
So this is my contribution to the theoretical debate:
Sometimes poetry is emotion recollected in a highly emotional state.