Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.

Poetry is nothing but healthy speech.

Poetry is nothing but healthy speech.

A poem conveys not a message so much as the provenance of a message, an advent of sense.

A poem conveys not a message so much as the provenance of a message, an advent of sense.

Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, of great and feeling souls.

Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, of great and feeling souls.

A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof.

A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof.

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, therefore, we will call Musical Thought.

Poetry, therefore, we will call Musical Thought.

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!