It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie.

Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie.

Poetry is all nouns and verbs.

Poetry is all nouns and verbs.

A poet dares be just so clear and no clearer... He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove read more

A poet dares be just so clear and no clearer... He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove it. A poet utterly clear is a trifle glaring.

For there is no heroic poem in the world but is at bottom a
biography, the life of a read more

For there is no heroic poem in the world but is at bottom a
biography, the life of a man; also, it may be said, there is no
life of a man, faithfully recorded, but is a heroic poem of its
sort, rhymed or unrhymed.

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.

It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.

A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman.

A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman.

The poet is in the end probably more afraid of the dogmatist who wants to extract the message from the read more

The poet is in the end probably more afraid of the dogmatist who wants to extract the message from the poem and throw the poem away than he is of the sentimentalist who says, "Oh, just let me enjoy the poem.".