A definition of poetry can only determine what poetry should be and not what poetry actually was and is; otherwise the most concise formula would be: Poetry is that which at some time and some place was thus named.
![A definition of poetry can only determine what poetry should be and not what poetry actually was and is; otherwise the most concise formula would be: Poetry is that which at some time and some place was thus named.](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/a-definition-of-poetry-can-only-determine-what-poetry-should-be-and-not-what-poetry-actually-was-and-is-otherwise.jpg)
A definition of poetry can only determine what poetry should be and not what poetry actually was and is; otherwise the most concise formula would be: Poetry is that which at some time and some place was thus named.