My aim is to take familiar things and make
Poetry of them, and do it in such a way
That it looks as if it was easy as could be
For anybody to do it (although he'd sweat
And strain and work his head off, all in vain)
Such is the power of judgement, of knowing what
It means to put the elements together
In just the right way; such is the power of making
A perfectly wonderful thing out of nothing much.
Horace. Epistle to Pisos ( The Art of Poetry)
Translated by David Ferry
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