"The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all that he has learned about poetry, is only a partial assurance."

Poetry, Risk

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"The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all that he has learned about poetry, is only a partial assurance."

Exlpore more Poetry quotes

"The young people have MTV and rock and roll. Why would they go to read poetry? Poetry belongs to the Stone Age. It awakens in us perceptions that go back to those times."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Age, People, Perceptions

"I don't think American poetry has gotten any better in the past 35 years. Oddly enough, creative writing programs seem to have been good for fiction, and I would not have predicted that."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Fiction, Past

"I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry,

"But I don't think that poetry is a good, to use a contemporary word, venue, for current events."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

Poetry, Events, Word

"A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry, People, Nothing, Writing

"In the grueling light that passed for day..."

Cormac McCarthy, American Writer

Poetry, Light, Life, Description

"And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry, Lie, Direction, Want

"That orbed maiden with white fire laden Whom mortals call the moon."

Percy Bysshe Shelley, English Poet

Poetry, Nature, Beauty, Imagery

"I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry, Purpose, America

"Sweet as the tender fragrance that survives,When martyred flowers breathe out their little lives,Sweet as a song that once consoled our pain,But never will be sung to us again,Is they remembrance. Now the hour of restHath come to thee. Sleep, darling: it is best."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American Poet

Poetry, Remembrance, Sadness, Love, Beauty

Explore more quotes by A. R. Ammons

"Each poem in becoming generates the laws by which it is generated: extensions of the laws to other poems never completely take."

Law

"Questions structure and, so, to some extent predetermine answers."

Answers

"I can't tell you where a poem comes from, what it is, or what it is for: nor can any other man. The reason I can't tell you is that the purpose of a poem is to go past telling, to be recognised by burning."

Purpose

"That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if not directly by the person, certainly by the enterprise of the poet himself, working with his friends."

Friendship

"If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we must ineluctably be included."

God

"Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars in our galaxy alone."

Stars

"Once every five hundred years or so, a summary statement about poetry comes along that we can't imagine ourselves living without."

Poetry

"I must stress here the point that I appreciate clarity, order, meaning, structure, rationality: they are necessary to whatever provisional stability we have, and they can be the agents of gradual and successful change."

Change

"Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience."

Experience

"There's something to be said in favor of working in isolation in the real world."

Isolation