Anne Carson: Economy (July 1998)

In this lecture, poet and translator Anne Carson traces the concept of poetic economy to the early Greek poet Simonides, who was, Carson argues, economy’s first exponent; she then explores connections between Simonides and the modern Romanian poet Paul Celan who, she says, “took the principle to its logical extreme.” Exploring what both poets can teach us about the importance of using “as few words as possible,” Carson asks us to consider economy as both an aesthetic and ethical value.