What is a Sonnet? 'Tis the pearly shell
That murmurs of the far-off, murmuring sea;
A precious jewel carved most curiously;
It is a little picture painted well.
What is a Sonnet? 'Tis the tear that fell
From a great poet's hidden ecstasy;
A two-edged sword, a star, a song--ah me!
Sometimes a heavy tolling funeral bell.
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The great function of poetry is to give back to us the situations of our dreams.
The great function of poetry is to give back to us the situations of our dreams.
The poet's expression of joy conceals his despair at not having found the reality of joy.
The poet's expression of joy conceals his despair at not having found the reality of joy.
A prose writer gets tired of writing prose, and wants to be a poet. So he begins every line with read more
A prose writer gets tired of writing prose, and wants to be a poet. So he begins every line with a capital letter, and keeps on writing prose.
Poetry is itself a thing of God;
He made his prophets poets;and the more
We feel of read more
Poetry is itself a thing of God;
He made his prophets poets;and the more
We feel of poesie do we become
Like God in love and power,--under-makers.
Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.
Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.
A poem is never finished, only abandoned.
A poem is never finished, only abandoned.
A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been read more
A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.
CONSIDERING THE VOID
When I behold the charm
of evening skies, their lulling endurance;
the patterns of stars with read more
CONSIDERING THE VOID
When I behold the charm
of evening skies, their lulling endurance;
the patterns of stars with names
of bears and dogs, a swan, a virgin;
other planets that the Voyager showed
were like and so unlike our own,
with all their diverse moons,
bright discs, weird rings, and cratered faces;
comets with their streaming tails
bent by pressure from our sun;
the skyscape of our Milky Way
holding in its shimmering disc
an infinity of suns
(or say a thousand billion);
knowing there are holes of darkness
gulping mass and even light,
knowing that this galaxy of ours
is one of multitudes
in what we call the heavens,
it troubles me. It troubles me.
-President Jimmy Carter- (he has written a volume of poetry as well as a novel, The Hornet's Nest,
about the Revolutionary War).
If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone.
If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone.
