Poetry Quotes | Beyond Motive 3/13

top of page

Poetry Quotes

"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

4

"In politics, as in poetry, it is sometimes true that it is darkest before dawn."

"In politics, as in poetry, it is sometimes true that it is darkest before dawn."

Larry Summers, American Economist

Poetry, Politics, Dawn

4

"Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more often directed to lesser than to greater values."

"Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more often directed to lesser than to greater values."

A. R. Ammons, American Poet

Poetry, Values, Attention, Results

4

"Obviously one of the things that poets from Northern Ireland and beyond - had to try to make sense of was what was happening on a day-to-day political level."

"Obviously one of the things that poets from Northern Ireland and beyond - had to try to make sense of was what was happening on a day-to-day political level."

Paul Muldoon, English Poet

Poetry, Day, Ireland, Poets, Sense

4

"Poetry is one of the few nasty childhood habits I've managed to grow out of."

"Poetry is one of the few nasty childhood habits I've managed to grow out of."

Tom Holt, British Novelist

Poetry, Childhood, Habits

4

"To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry."

"To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry."

John Andrew Holmes, American Author

Poetry, Language, Reading

4

"You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose."

"You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose."

Mario Cuomo, American Politician

4

"The office of poetry is not to make us think accurately, but feel truly."

"The office of poetry is not to make us think accurately, but feel truly."

Frederick Robertson, English Clergyman

4

"The cliche is dead poetry."

"The cliche is dead poetry."

Gerald Brenan, English Writer

4

"Stylized acting and direction is to realistic acting and direction as poetry is to prose."

"Stylized acting and direction is to realistic acting and direction as poetry is to prose."

Elia Kazan, American Director

Poetry, Acting, Direction, Prose

4

"Most people read poetry listening for echoes because the echoes are familiar to them. They wade through it the way a boy wades through water, feeling with his toes for the bottom: The echoes are the bottom."

"Most people read poetry listening for echoes because the echoes are familiar to them. They wade through it the way a boy wades through water, feeling with his toes for the bottom: The echoes are the bottom."

Wallace Stevens, American Poet

Poetry, People, Feeling, Listening

4

"The Spring I seek is in a new face only."

"The Spring I seek is in a new face only."

Allen Tate, American Poet

4

"Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness."

"Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness."

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Novelist

Poetry, Artist, Merit

4

"In fact a lot of them I think are absolute baloney. Those Charles Olsens and people like that. At first I was interested in seeing what they were up to, what they were doing, why they were doing it. They never moved me in the way that one is moved by true poetry."

"In fact a lot of them I think are absolute baloney. Those Charles Olsens and people like that. At first I was interested in seeing what they were up to, what they were doing, why they were doing it. They never moved me in the way that one is moved by true poetry."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

Poetry, People, Fact, First

4

"The first question at that time in poetry was simply the question of honesty, of sincerity."

"The first question at that time in poetry was simply the question of honesty, of sincerity."

George Oppen, American Poet

Poetry, Time, Honesty, First

4

"And my father was a comic. He could play any musical instrument. He loved to perform. He was a wonderfully comedic character. He had the ability to dance and sing and charm and analyze poetry."

"And my father was a comic. He could play any musical instrument. He loved to perform. He was a wonderfully comedic character. He had the ability to dance and sing and charm and analyze poetry."

Lynn Johnston, American Cartoonist

Poetry, Father, Dance, Character

4

"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

4

"Poetry, even when apparently most fantastic, is always a revolt against artifice, a revolt, in a sense, against actuality."

"Poetry, even when apparently most fantastic, is always a revolt against artifice, a revolt, in a sense, against actuality."

James Joyce, Irish Novelist

4

"Science is for those who learn, poetry is for those who know."

"Science is for those who learn, poetry is for those who know."

Joseph Roux, French Clergyman

Poetry, Science

4

"I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do."

"I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do."

David Antin, American Poet

Poetry, Thought

4

"It was the noise Of ancient trees falling while all was still Before the storm, in the long interval Between the gathering clouds and that light breeze Which Germans call the Wind's bride."

"It was the noise Of ancient trees falling while all was still Before the storm, in the long interval Between the gathering clouds and that light breeze Which Germans call the Wind's bride."

Charles Godfrey Leland, American Writer

Poetry, Clouds, Light, Trees, Wind

4

"I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a kind of mean that enables the most dubious practitioners to claim they are poets because they think, If the kind of thing Ginsberg does is poetry, I can do that."

"I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a kind of mean that enables the most dubious practitioners to claim they are poets because they think, If the kind of thing Ginsberg does is poetry, I can do that."

James Dickey, American Novelist

Poetry, Harm, Honor, Poets

4

"I listened, motionless and still; And, as I mounted up the hill, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more."

"I listened, motionless and still; And, as I mounted up the hill, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more."

William Wordsworth, English Poet

Poetry, Music, Heart

4

"Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words."

"Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words."

Paul Engle, American Poet

Poetry, Power, Ideas, Emotions

4

"How does one happen to write a poem: where does it come from? That is the question asked by the psychologists or the geneticists of poetry."

"How does one happen to write a poem: where does it come from? That is the question asked by the psychologists or the geneticists of poetry."

Allen Tate, American Poet

Poetry, Question

4

"Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people."

"Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people."

Adrian Mitchell, British Poet

4

"I'm fascinated by rap and by hip-hop. I think there's a lot of poetry in it. There's a lot of anger, a lot of social energy in it. And I think you'd better listen to it pretty carefully, 'cause it's important."

"I'm fascinated by rap and by hip-hop. I think there's a lot of poetry in it. There's a lot of anger, a lot of social energy in it. And I think you'd better listen to it pretty carefully, 'cause it's important."

John F. Kerry, American Politician

Poetry, Anger, Energy, Pretty

4

"I wrote The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God in five hours, but I had it all planned out. It isn't poetry and it does not pretend to be, but it does what it sets out to do."

"I wrote The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God in five hours, but I had it all planned out. It isn't poetry and it does not pretend to be, but it does what it sets out to do."

J. Milton Hayes, English Actor

Poetry, God, Eye

4

"A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long."

"A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long."

e. e. cummings, American Poet

Poetry, Autumn, Rain, Sky, Trees

4

"And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so."

"And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

Poetry, Question

4

"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."

"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."

Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher

4

"Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes."

"Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes."

Joseph Roux, French Clergyman

Poetry, Truth, Clothes

4

"I don't think you get to good writing unless you expose yourself and your feelings. Deep songs don't come from the surface; they come from the deep down. The poetry and the songs that you are suppose to write, I believe are in your heart."

"I don't think you get to good writing unless you expose yourself and your feelings. Deep songs don't come from the surface; they come from the deep down. The poetry and the songs that you are suppose to write, I believe are in your heart."

Judy Collins, American Musician

Poetry, Feelings, Heart, Deep

4

"I never think about poetry except when I'm writing it. I mean my poetry."

"I never think about poetry except when I'm writing it. I mean my poetry."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

Poetry, Writing

4

"Well, I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven, writing poetry. I was passionately addicted to it; it was my great refuge through adolescence."

"Well, I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven, writing poetry. I was passionately addicted to it; it was my great refuge through adolescence."

Harry Mathews, American Author

Poetry, Adolescence, Writing

4

"I have always written poetry but I have never applied it to songwriting."

"I have always written poetry but I have never applied it to songwriting."

Janine Turner, American Actress

4

"The other side of it is that, despite all that, people reach out to poetry at the key moments in their lives."

"The other side of it is that, despite all that, people reach out to poetry at the key moments in their lives."

Paul Muldoon, English Poet

Poetry, People, Key, Moments

4

"The Language Poets are writing only about language itself. The Ashbery poets are writing only about poetry itself. That seems to me a kind of dead end."

"The Language Poets are writing only about language itself. The Ashbery poets are writing only about poetry itself. That seems to me a kind of dead end."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Poetry, End, Language, Poets

4

"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

4

"Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is."

"Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is."

James Branch Cabell, American Novelist

Poetry, Being, Man, Rebellion

4

"There is a wonderful Hungarian literature, especially in lyric poetry."

"There is a wonderful Hungarian literature, especially in lyric poetry."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

Poetry, Literature

4

"When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as in the presence of the man."

"When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as in the presence of the man."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

Poetry, Hearing, Man, Talk, Voice

4

"I was very interested in American poetry for many years. Much less now."

"I was very interested in American poetry for many years. Much less now."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

Poetry, American, Now, Years

4

"Give me one more night to taste the darkWhen wolves imitate a lone dog's bark Let those secrets remain unspoken Fallen angel's heart now lover's token Light grows dim burying riddle's death Just breathe to free your one last breath."

"Give me one more night to taste the darkWhen wolves imitate a lone dog's bark Let those secrets remain unspoken Fallen angel's heart now lover's token Light grows dim burying riddle's death Just breathe to free your one last breath."

Munia Khan, Bangladeshi Poet

Poetry, Mystery, Darkness, Secrets, Love

4

"Poetry is at least an elegance and at most a revelation."

"Poetry is at least an elegance and at most a revelation."

Robert Fitzgerald, American Author

Poetry, Elegance

4

"I don't look on poetry as closed works. I feel they're going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off a length."

"I don't look on poetry as closed works. I feel they're going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off a length."

John Ashbery, American Poet

4

"Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it."

"Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it."

Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Artist

4

"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

4

"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

4

"All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling."

"All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Poetry, Feeling

4

bottom of page