To write poetry, to Wordsworth, a man must ‘loaf and invite his soul….’ It is certain that a man cannot know what poetry without inviting the soul…. Empiricists who question the mind’s existence should not logically refuse the experiment. The best way to convince yourself that there is a world of inner experience is to explore it.
Owen Barfield: Poetic Diction
Therefore, poetry is not about process, but about exploring. The poem is the result of the exploration, not the mere product of a process.
This in now way diminishes the need to master the craft.
