Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

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.

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.

Writing a poem is discovering

Writing a poem is discovering

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.

Doeg, though without knowing how or why,
Made a still a blundering kind of melody;
Spurr'd boldly read more

Doeg, though without knowing how or why,
Made a still a blundering kind of melody;
Spurr'd boldly on, and dash'd through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in;
Free from all meaning whether good or bad,
And in one word, heroically mad.

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.

A poet is someone who is astonished by everything.

A poet is someone who is astonished by everything.

The fatal facility of the octosyllabic verse.

The fatal facility of the octosyllabic verse.