Poetry Quotes | Beyond Motive 3/15

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Poetry Quotes

"I published, privately, a collection of my serious poetry I had written over the years. I only published 50 copies, which I gave to friends, in a special deluxe edition. It was ridiculously expensive but I'm glad that I did it."

"I published, privately, a collection of my serious poetry I had written over the years. I only published 50 copies, which I gave to friends, in a special deluxe edition. It was ridiculously expensive but I'm glad that I did it."

Tom Glazer, American Musician

Poetry, Friends, Years

45

"Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry."

"Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry."

Muriel Rukeyser, American Poet

Poetry, Experience

45

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!"

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!"

Lord Byron, British Poet

45

"If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it."

"If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it."

Lascelles Abercrombie, British Poet

45

"I want to see the thirstinside the syllablesI want to touch the firein the sound:I want to feel the darknessof the cry. I wantwords as roughas virgin rocks. - Verb."

"I want to see the thirstinside the syllablesI want to touch the firein the sound:I want to feel the darknessof the cry. I wantwords as roughas virgin rocks. - Verb."

Pablo Neruda, Chilean Writer

Poetry, Language, Intensity, Desire

45

"He passes from lyric to epic poetry in order to speak about the world and the torment in the world through man, rationally and emotionally. The poet then becomes a danger."

"He passes from lyric to epic poetry in order to speak about the world and the torment in the world through man, rationally and emotionally. The poet then becomes a danger."

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian Author

Poetry, Danger, Man, Order

45

"Most people can't tell now who wrote what. I like that blurring of identities within the band. because it becomes a unified thing that can't be related to other forms of historical poetry."

"Most people can't tell now who wrote what. I like that blurring of identities within the band. because it becomes a unified thing that can't be related to other forms of historical poetry."

Thurston Moore, American Musician

Poetry, People, Now

45

"Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to talk with children, to teachers, and make sure they get poetry in the curriculum early."

"Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to talk with children, to teachers, and make sure they get poetry in the curriculum early."

Rita Dove, American Poet

Poetry, Children, Curriculum, Literature

45

"Poetry is so vital to us until school spoils it."

"Poetry is so vital to us until school spoils it."

Russell Baker, American Journalist

44

"Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason."

"Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason."

Novalis, German Poet

Poetry, Reason, Wounds

44

"When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous."

"When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

Poetry, Thought, Writer

44

"Then I discovered I loved writing poetry more than fiction."

"Then I discovered I loved writing poetry more than fiction."

George Murray, Canadian Poet

Poetry, Fiction, Writing

44

"If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution."

"If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution."

Wallace Stevens, American Poet

Poetry, Bible, Aspirations, Needs

44

"And New York is the most beautiful city in the world? It is not far from it. No urban night is like the night there... Squares after squares of flame, set up and cut into the aether. Here is our poetry, for we have pulled down the stars to our will."

"And New York is the most beautiful city in the world? It is not far from it. No urban night is like the night there... Squares after squares of flame, set up and cut into the aether. Here is our poetry, for we have pulled down the stars to our will."

Ezra Pound, American Poet

Poetry, Night, Stars, Will

44

"Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it."

"Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it."

Seamus Heaney, Irish Poet

44

"For while the subjects of poetry are few and recurrent, the moods of man are infinitely various and unstable. It is the same in all arts."

"For while the subjects of poetry are few and recurrent, the moods of man are infinitely various and unstable. It is the same in all arts."

John Drinkwater, English Poet

Poetry, Man, Moods

44

"The fact that something is in a rhymed form or in blank verse will not make it good poetry."

"The fact that something is in a rhymed form or in blank verse will not make it good poetry."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Fact, Will

44

"Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar stories than to quite new and unexpected things; the listeners, we must remember, needed poetry chiefly as the re-creation of tired hours."

"Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar stories than to quite new and unexpected things; the listeners, we must remember, needed poetry chiefly as the re-creation of tired hours."

Lascelles Abercrombie, British Poet

44

"If my poetry aims to achieve anything, it's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel."

"If my poetry aims to achieve anything, it's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel."

Jim Morrison, American Musician

44

"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognizes as his own."

"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognizes as his own."

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian Author

Poetry, Feeling

44

"Lapped in poetry, wrapped in the picturesque, armed with logical sentences and inalienable words."

"Lapped in poetry, wrapped in the picturesque, armed with logical sentences and inalienable words."

Anatole Broyard, American Critic

44

"I've been told by many the art of poetry's dead, I believe it's alive on pages they haven't read."

"I've been told by many the art of poetry's dead, I believe it's alive on pages they haven't read."

Stanley Victor Paskavich, American Politician

Poetry, Art, Truth, Creativity

44

"In a manner of speaking, the poem is its own knower, neither poet nor reader knowing anything that the poem says apart from the words of the poem."

"In a manner of speaking, the poem is its own knower, neither poet nor reader knowing anything that the poem says apart from the words of the poem."

Allen Tate, American Poet

43

"Some people swear by writing courses, but whether it really helps American poetry, I have doubts."

"Some people swear by writing courses, but whether it really helps American poetry, I have doubts."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, People, Writing

43

"I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry."

"I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

Poetry, English, Language

43

"Poetry, almost by definition, calls attention to its language and form."

"Poetry, almost by definition, calls attention to its language and form."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Attention, Language

43

"I think that's what poetry does. It allows people to come together and identify with a common thing that is outside of themselves, but which they identify with from the interior."

"I think that's what poetry does. It allows people to come together and identify with a common thing that is outside of themselves, but which they identify with from the interior."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

43

"Gil Thorpe is a great diversion and is to book writing as poetry is to prose."

"Gil Thorpe is a great diversion and is to book writing as poetry is to prose."

Jerry B. Jenkins, American Novelist

Poetry, Prose, Writing

43

"In the late 60s and early 70s, I did get interested in voices, and in narration and embodying the voice, making the poem sound like a real person talking."

"In the late 60s and early 70s, I did get interested in voices, and in narration and embodying the voice, making the poem sound like a real person talking."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Sound, Talking, Voice

43

"You have to really dive deep back into yourself and get rid of so much modern analytical categorization. It's one of the great things poetry does."

"You have to really dive deep back into yourself and get rid of so much modern analytical categorization. It's one of the great things poetry does."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

43

"A poem in form still has to have voice, gesture, a sense of discovery, a metaphoric connection, as any poetry does."

"A poem in form still has to have voice, gesture, a sense of discovery, a metaphoric connection, as any poetry does."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Connection, Discovery, Sense

43

"Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away."

"Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away."

Carl Sandburg, American Poet

Poetry, Rainbows

43

"Some of the most passionately erotic poets have been the most self-contained in their daily lives."

"Some of the most passionately erotic poets have been the most self-contained in their daily lives."

Thomas Hardy, English Novelist

Poetry, Passion, Expression, Control

43

"Everything that is scatteredcomes together in wordseverything that is lostcomes back in poetry."

"Everything that is scatteredcomes together in wordseverything that is lostcomes back in poetry."

Sanober Khan, Indian Businessman

Poetry, Art, Expression, Healing

43

"All the wordsall the poems know my warm, soft spots."

"All the wordsall the poems know my warm, soft spots."

Sanober Khan, Indian Businessman

Poetry, Emotion, Memory, Feeling

43

"Poetry seems to have been eliminated as a literary genre, and installed instead, as a kind of spiritual aerobic exercise - nobody need read it, but anybody can do it."

"Poetry seems to have been eliminated as a literary genre, and installed instead, as a kind of spiritual aerobic exercise - nobody need read it, but anybody can do it."

Marilyn Hacker, American Poet

Poetry, Exercise, Literary, Spiritual

42

"Poets are Damned... but See with the Eyes of Angels."

"Poets are Damned... but See with the Eyes of Angels."

Allen Ginsberg, American Poet

Poetry, Angels, Eyes, Poets

42

"There is also poetry written to be shouted in a square in front of an enthusiastic crowd. This occurs especially in countries where authoritarian regimes are in power."

"There is also poetry written to be shouted in a square in front of an enthusiastic crowd. This occurs especially in countries where authoritarian regimes are in power."

Eugenio Montale, Italian Poet

Poetry, Power, Countries

42

"I believe that the short story is as different a form from the novel as poetry is, and the best stories seem to me to be perhaps closer in spirit to poetry than to novels."

"I believe that the short story is as different a form from the novel as poetry is, and the best stories seem to me to be perhaps closer in spirit to poetry than to novels."

Tobias Wolff, American Writer

42

"Rap is poetry set to music. But to me it's like a jackhammer."

"Rap is poetry set to music. But to me it's like a jackhammer."

Bette Midler, American Actress

Poetry, Music, Rap

42

"My old teacher's definition of poetry is an attempt to understand."

"My old teacher's definition of poetry is an attempt to understand."

Thom Gunn, British Poet

42

"I don't think it's always good to read lots of poetry."

"I don't think it's always good to read lots of poetry."

Amber Tamblyn, American Actress

42

"Hence, in a season of calm weatherThough inland far we be,Our souls have sight of that immortal sea."

"Hence, in a season of calm weatherThough inland far we be,Our souls have sight of that immortal sea."

William Wordsworth, English Poet

Poetry, Soul, Calm, Nature, Spiritual

42

"Poetry is the exquisite expression of exquisite expressions."

"Poetry is the exquisite expression of exquisite expressions."

Joseph Roux, French Clergyman

Poetry, Expression

42

"If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable."

"If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, Problems, Wrong

42

"A group of us started a community center in Santa Monica. We've tried different programs, and three have worked really well. A poetry group. Once a week we visit Venice High and talk to girls at risk."

"A group of us started a community center in Santa Monica. We've tried different programs, and three have worked really well. A poetry group. Once a week we visit Venice High and talk to girls at risk."

Lisa Bonet, American Actress

Poetry, Community, Girls, Risk

42

"Come lie beside me again and understand - the others can show by actions, but I alone will immortalize you in words..."

"Come lie beside me again and understand - the others can show by actions, but I alone will immortalize you in words..."

John Geddes, Canadian Author

Poetry, Love, Immortality, Word

42

"So it is in poetry. All we ask is that the mood recorded shall impress us as having been of the kind that exhausts the imaginative capacity; if it fails to do this the failure will announce itself either in prose or in insignificant verse."

"So it is in poetry. All we ask is that the mood recorded shall impress us as having been of the kind that exhausts the imaginative capacity; if it fails to do this the failure will announce itself either in prose or in insignificant verse."

John Drinkwater, English Poet

Poetry, Failure, Prose, Will

41

"I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding."

"I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding."

Rita Dove, American Poet

Poetry, Interest

41

"Pound's translation of Chinese poetry was maybe the most important thing I read. Eliot a little bit later."

"Pound's translation of Chinese poetry was maybe the most important thing I read. Eliot a little bit later."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

41

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