"The Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca, named the keeper of that space the duende—daemon, hobgoblin, mischief maker, guardian of "the mystery, the roots fastened in the mire that we all know and all ignore." Unlike the Muse or Angel, which exist beyond or above the poet, the duende sleeps deep within the poet..."
"...our poems are not things we create in order that a reader might be pleased or impressed (or, if you will, delighted or instructed); we write poems in order to engage in the perilous yet necessary struggle to inhabit ourselves—our real selves, the ones we barely recognize—more completely."
"Practically speaking, this dual reality translates into something very simple for the poet: talent only goes so far. Talent only leads up to the door where the real reason for writing—or continuing to write—resides. Talent will get you there and raise your hand to the knocker. After that, what pulls you inside and keeps you alive can only be need. The need for answers to unformed questions. The need for an echo back from the most distant reaches of the self. The need to stop time, to understand the undecipherable..."
"Any poet who is honest with him or herself recognizes a struggle very near the impetus to write. [...] It’s a struggle, literally, not to disappear."
- All quotes from "Survival in Two Worlds at Once: Federico Garcia Lorca and Duende" by Tracy K. Smith
- More on Lorca and duende:
Federico García Lorca @ Poets.org
The Long Life of Lorca @ Time.com
