Is poetry necessary? I know that those who write most violently against it unconsciously desire to endow it with a comfortable perfection, and are working on this project right now;- they call this hygienic future. They contemplate the annihilation (always imminent) of art. At this point they desire more artistic art. Hygiene becomes purity oGod oGod.
Must we cease to believe in words? Since when have they expressed the opposite of what the organ emitting them thinks and wants?
Here is the great secret:
The thought is made in the mouth.
I still consider myself very charming.
-Tristan Tzara, IV (From “Seven Dada Manifestoes,” 1916-20)
