poetry Quotes

A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.

The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom... in a clarification of life - not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion.

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

Modern poets talk against business, poor things, but all of us write for money. Beginners are subjected to trial by market.

To be a poet is a condition, not a profession.

I alone of English writers have consciously set myself to make music out of what I may call the sound of sense.

A poet never takes notes. You never take notes in a love affair.

Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things.