“I carry my thoughts around with me for a long time, often for a very long time, before writing them down. During this time, my memory remains so faithful that I am sure, I won’t forget a theme I have once grasped, even after years.

I change some things, reject and keep trying, until I am satisfied; then I begin the work process in my mind: widthways, into the narrows, upwards and downwards, and as I am aware of what I want, the fundamental idea never leaves me, it rises, it grows upwards, I hear and see the picture in its whole expansion like a unified whole in front of my mind, and all I can do is write it down, which happens quickly, depending on how I can spare the time, as I sometimes do several things at once.

However, I am sure, I don’t confuse one thing with the other. You will ask, where I take these ideas from? I cannot say that with certainty; they come without being called, indirectly, immediately, I could grasp them with my hands, in the open countryside, in the woods, during walks, in the silence of the night, in the early hours of the morning, stimulated by moods which are realised within the poet by words, within me by tones, sounding, roaring, storming, until finally, they appear in front of me as notes.”