Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Edward Hirsch

Critical Essay by Edward Hirsch

SOURCE: Hirsh, Edward. “Octavio Paz: In Search of a Moment.” American Poetry Review 29, no. 2 (March-April 2000): 49-51.

In the following essay Hirsch offers an overview of theme and use of language in Paz's poetry.

Octavio Paz practiced poetry like a secret religion. He dwelt in its mysteries, he invoked its sacraments, he read its entrails, he inscribed its revelations. Writing was for him a primordial act, and he stared down at the blank page like an abyss until it sent him reeling over the brink of language. The poems he brought back are filled with ancient wonder and strangeness, hermetic wisdom, a dizzying sense of the sacred. They are magically—sometimes violently—uprooted from silence. They are drawn from a deep well. Here is his three-line poem “Escritura” (“Writing”): “Yo dibujo estas letras / como el día dibuja sus imágenes / y sopla sobre ellas y no vuelve”:

I draw...
(read more)