The ultimate can only be expressed in conduct. Example moves the world more than doctrine. The great exemplars are the poets of action, and it makes little difference whether they be forces for good or forces for evil.
Poetry Quotes
Language may die at the hands of the schoolmen: it is regenerated by the poets.
Some good, some so-so, and lots plain bad: that’s how a book of poems is made, my friend.
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.
Each memorable verse of a true poet has two or three times the written content.
The characteristick quality of his poem is sublimity. He sometimes descends to the elegant, but his element is the great. He can occasionally invest himself with grace; but his natural port is gigantick loftiness. He can please when pleasure is required, but it is his peculiar power to astonish.
When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.
Poetry is not made out of the understanding. The question of common sense is always, “What is it good for?” A question would abolish a rose, and be triumphantly answered by the cabbage.
Knowledge of the subject is to the poet what durable materials are to the architect.
Poetry is probably the one field of writing in which it is a mistake to try to psych out editors. In fact, specific marketing advice can sometimes harm the novice poet by enticing him to pursue fashions. The poet’s best hope is to sound like nobody else, The finest, most enduring poetry constructs a marketplace […]
