How we cite our quotes: (Book Title.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
One day, when Pooh was walking towards this bridge, he was trying to make up a piece of poetry about fir-cones, because there they were, lying about on each side of him, and he felt singy. (House.6.3)
Inspiration can come from pretty much anywhere. What's cool about this is that it shows Pooh, the poet, as a recipient of art, in a way. The presence of the pine cones causes him to write poetry. Art is the result of the world around him. Not quite Robert Frost, but charming nonetheless.
Quote #8
"But it wasn't Easy," said Pooh to himself, as he looked at what had once been Owl's House. "Because Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is to go where they can find you." (House.9.4)
This takes Pooh's aesthetic one step further. He has no control over how the poems and hums come to him or where they take him. This mirrors Milne's version of how the tales in the second book come to him, appearing as adventures in dreams that need to be captured in order to write them down.
Quote #9
"Did I really do all that?" he said at last.
"Well," said Pooh, "in poetry—in a piece of poetry—well, you did it, Piglet, because the poetry says you did it. And that's how people know." (House.9.51-52)
The great thing about art is that it can provide a subjective version of things that really happened. And the story that is retold is how people actually remember it. Wonder how tall tales are created? Epic poems originated in part as ways of retelling historical events. Piglet as Achilleus? We like the sound of that.