Kahlil Gibran writes

"Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul".

Do we find this to be true? When we have too much comfort or are too taken up with its pursuit, does our poetry suffer, as a symptom of a deeper malaise?

Does one need this thing called passion to write good poetry?

I think it depends on the individual. You have people who can express themselves via an art form in all states of emotion - poetry is no exception. I do believe one needs to be passionate in what they do, or why bother.

That's an interesting quote Dave - and very general, though you have chosen to apply it to the arts.

If you were to apply it to the notion of love, I could see some truth in it. Our creature comforts are important, particularly as we grow older. Taking risks for love becomes less do-able - particularly as we become more cynical about what love is.

Applying it to the arts, there is also some truth in it. Lots of poets seem to be inspired by the peaks and troughs of their emotional life. When you are just diddling along in a comfortable kind of way the poetry doesn't always flow.

Francine is right to say that everyone is different though. Some artists/writers/poets can write about anything - they don't always feed off their own emotions. Perhaps writing is their true passion :)

As near as I can tell you Dave - I haven't a clue.
Comfort didn't appear to dilute Shakespeare's quality; on the other hand, the death of his children is said to have inspired Mozart and his deafness, Beethoven.
So who knows.I certainly shan't be giving all my worldly possessions away in the hope of posthumous recognition as the finest poet ever to come out of Chapel Haddlesey.

I write for a living and can, when given a project/subject, research it, craft it and write it quite easily.
However, when it comes to poetry this somehow doesn't work. Inspiration isn't very accommodating and nudges my shoulder at the most inconvenient times. Then it is just a case of getting the sentiments down quickly before they're lost for good. Sometimes the wait is painstaking and is the reason for my poor output.

I don't write for a living, although some of my work has involved writing as a part of it (instructions, courses etc.) but I would agree very much with Graham's sentiments. To write poetry requires a level of inspiration that doesn't tend to come to order. I can choose exactly when to write a report, a booklet etc. but I can't really choose when to write a poem.

Being out of the "comfort" zone and seeing and experiencing the variety of life is one thing that can help bring on such inspiration. So I think there is some considerable truth in the quotation in Dave's original quote.

PS - sorry if agreeing with people on the site is bucking a trend;-)

Throughout what could be described as a brutal and traumatic life, I did not write poetry. It was only when I came to a place in my life where I was deliriously happy, content, comfortable in so many areas, that I started. There are a number of factors at play in why I started writing, not least the inspiration gained from seeing a performance poet do her stuff. But, I don't think I would have been able to write the way I do without having a very important distance and 'remove' from the events and feelings preceding the writing. When I was a kid, I kept a diary in the 3rd person. That worked as a remove, but it was private, and not poetry.

I needed to be in a comfort zone in order to be able to write about the bad stuff. That, in turn, opened some kind of floodgate in my head to write about other stuff. I felt the absolute pleasure that is creativity, falling through me, through my head, a real tangible feeling like going all shimmery inside and losing touch with 'reality' for a while, and it still amazes me where it comes from. I've spoken to a lot of people now about this creative process, how it just cannot be forced (and I did try sometimes) and they all say the same sort of things, about how sometimes it will just fall out onto the page, and you look at it and think 'erm, that wasn't me, I didn't write that, I don't know how I thought about putting it that way', because I didn't CONSCIOUSLY think about it, until most of it was out. Of course, sometimes an idea will fall out, and sometimes I get so into it that I go off and do a load of reading about it, and THEN it will fall out a bit more hehe. Spooky, and thrilling, and totally satisfying. Addictive. Have to say, as an addictive person, this counts as the best one ;D

I think you do need passion to write, but I am already, and always have been, a passionate person anyway about most aspects of life, so being in a comfort zone, wanting comfort, doesn't lessen that passion.

Ha - oh look, I'm disagreeing with Gibran again ;D