This study attempts a fresh look at Gottfried Benn's poetics. It argues for, and demonstrates the value of, a close contextual analysis that takes account of Benn's idiosyncratic habit of expression. A representative selection of critical and literary works written by Benn between 1910 and 1956 is discussed, in order to show how his views on poetry developed to form a consistent pattern of thought, one rooted in the German poetic tradition and pointing beyond its own time to the present day.