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

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

In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column:
In the pentameter aye falling in melody back.

In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column:
In the pentameter aye falling in melody back.

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

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!

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.

For rhyme the rudder is of verses,
With which, like ships, they steer their courses.

For rhyme the rudder is of verses,
With which, like ships, they steer their courses.

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.

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.

In poetry, you must love the words, the ideas and the images and rhythms with all your capacity to love read more

In poetry, you must love the words, the ideas and the images and rhythms with all your capacity to love anything at all.