Musings Courtesy Harold Bloom

From The Best Poems of the English Language by Harold Bloom:

There is a benign haunting in poetic tradition, one that transcends the sorrows of influence, particularly the new poet's fear that there is little left for her or him to do. In truth, there is everything remaining to be thought and sung, provided an individual voice is attained.

 Having suffered several crises on this very subject, I have managed to pull myself from complete, ridiculous despair by different means. When I read this quote, I a, comforted, and I feel that developing a distinct style and facility is more important than having original ideas. The old maxim, "nothing original is good, and nothing good is original," seems to apply, but I feel that this is an oversimplification/derogatory saying that can't be applied to every work. I hope that sometime in the future I may be able to develop my own distinct style and be able to write with a facility that will allow me to speak on any subject, contrived or fresh, in a new shade of light.