Eurythmy Performance
Now one can already say: when a real poet writes a poem, there is something behind it, apart from what he puts into the words. Certainly, many people listen to poetry as if it were prose, focusing on the content. They have no concept of poetry at all, but there is something behind every poem that is a work of art, something that can be summed up in one word: enthusiasm. That is what lies behind poetry: enthusiasm. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, where is the enthusiasm? Just think about the inner state you are in as a human being when you are enthusiastic, enthusiastic in sadness or enthusiastic in joy. And now imagine that the poet experiences some situation, something. He actually wants to express it by moving his whole being. He wants to live in his whole being. He cannot do that; he has to suppress it. It wants to go outward, but it goes inward: there is the enthusiasm, it continues, modifies itself, becomes sound or tone.
Cite:
GA 277d/1924-04-21/p012 · edition English