The Bow and the Lyre (Octavio Paz)

What Paz finds is that true poetry is poetry which has the power to change the world in dramatic and lasting ways. Poetry is "an operation capable of changing the world." Poetry "is revolutionary by nature; a spiritual exercise, it is a means of interior liberation" (Paz, 1973, p. 3). Paz says that it is an "abuse of language" to believe that all poetry is the same, but in a sense all successful and true poetry does do one thing: it threatens the status quo. This is true both with respect to the individual and the society. Poetry challenges what is, and clearly this is a dangerous thing to the state which wants to keep things as they are. If true poetry is revolutionary, then there is a natural and inevitable conflict between poetry and politics.

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itical order in a Latin American country ruled by tyranny or authoritarian power. At the same time, Paz argues that for poetry to be poetry in a true and free way, it must stay separate from political movements. It might favor the revolutionary side in the struggle against tyranny, but it must not simply become another propagandistic weapon used to advance a social, political or economic theory. The style of the work remains true to the argument of the author. That is, Paz argues that language must be free, must not stick to a certain style, or it dies. As might be expected, then, we find Paz using ideas and language in a free-flowing way from the very beginning of the book. On the first page of the book we find this example of Paz's powers of poetic language: "Poetry is knowledge, salvation, power, abandonment. . . . Bread of the chosen; accursed food. It isolates; it unites. . . . Exorcism, conjuration, magic. Sublimation, compensation, condensation of the unconscious" (Paz, 1973, p. 3). There is poetry in these words, but there is also power. The poet uses power not to create a fantasy world of nirvana in the mind. The poet uses the power of words to disturb the status quo of the individual and of the state. The aim of the
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1452
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)