Does being a poet make you romantic or does being romantic make you a poet?

From experience I would say that it is inspiration that allows for the creation of poetry, and what more than inspiration is romance. Check out inspiration’s definition below…

Definition:

arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity >end<

So, this tells me that once inspired, a poet, or any other artist for that matter, can then start to create.

Furthermore, when I fell into unrequited love it was all I could do to stay sane!

Catullus:

A mighty pain to love it is,
And ‘tis a pain that pain to miss;
But of all pains, the greatest pain
It is to love, but love in vain…

Me:

I am this thing that thinks these thoughts,
those thoughts there,
that thee,
they thought.

Romance is not the only spur to poetry. You can ask any Emo that, lol. While romance may be wonderful material for poetry, and a poet can certainly turn romance into beautiful poetry, assuming one leads to another is faulty logic. While William Blake can certainly be romantic, his poem The Poison Tree certainly isn’t. I hope that makes sense.

Neither is automatic

Thankfully,that’s not always true ;)

Not all poems or poets are romantic.

Tonight my darling i’ll try my luck
You & I in bed for an almighty fuck
i’ll lick & suck touch & caress
Then come all over your wedding dress

If that’s not romantic then i’m a Dutchman.

i’d like to think that poesy can transcend such childish inclinations