We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have read more

We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.

The schoolmaster is abroad! And I trust to him armed with his primer against the soldier in full military array.

The schoolmaster is abroad! And I trust to him armed with his primer against the soldier in full military array.

The great Creator to revereMust sure become the creature;But still the preaching cant forbear,And ev'n the rigid feature:Yet ne'er with read more

The great Creator to revereMust sure become the creature;But still the preaching cant forbear,And ev'n the rigid feature:Yet ne'er with wits profane to rangeBe complaisance extended;An atheist laugh's a poor exchangeFor deity offended. - Epistle to a Young Friend, An.

Poetry is the impish attempt to paint the color of the wind.

Poetry is the impish attempt to paint the color of the wind.

Books are humanity in print.

Books are humanity in print.

When a man can observe himself suffering and is able, later, to describe what he's gone through, it means he read more

When a man can observe himself suffering and is able, later, to describe what he's gone through, it means he was born for literature.

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish read more

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written.

Poetry is at least an elegance and at most a revelation.

Poetry is at least an elegance and at most a revelation.

It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.

It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.