The job of the poet is to render the world--to see it and report it without loss, without perversion. No read more

The job of the poet is to render the world--to see it and report it without loss, without perversion. No poet ever talks about feelings. Only sentimental people do.

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.

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.

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.

When the brain gets as dry as an empty nut,
When the reason stands on its squarest toes,
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When the brain gets as dry as an empty nut,
When the reason stands on its squarest toes,
When the mind (like a beard) has a "formal cut,"--
There is a place and enough for the pains of prose;
But whenever the May-blood stires and glows,
And the young year draws to the "golden prime,"
And Sir Romeo sticks in his ear a rose,--
Then hey! for the ripple of laughing rhyme!

Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.

Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.

Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.

Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.

Of our conflicts with others we make rhetoric; of our conflicts with ourselves we make poetry.

Of our conflicts with others we make rhetoric; of our conflicts with ourselves we make poetry.

Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.

Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.