Poetry Quotes | Beyond Motive 5/13

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Poetry Quotes

"Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for."

"Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for."

Jean Cocteau, French Director

3

"Poetic talent doesn't operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry."

"Poetic talent doesn't operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry."

Wislawa Szymborska, Polish Poet

Poetry, Talent, Spirit

3

"But I am not political in the current events sense, and I have never wanted anyone to read my poetry that way."

"But I am not political in the current events sense, and I have never wanted anyone to read my poetry that way."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

Poetry, Events, Sense

3

"Poetry is rather an approach to things, to life, than it is typographical production."

"Poetry is rather an approach to things, to life, than it is typographical production."

Joseph Brodsky, American Poet

Poetry, Life, Production

3

"The poetry community here has been extraordinarily welcoming."

"The poetry community here has been extraordinarily welcoming."

George Murray, Canadian Poet

Poetry, Community

3

"That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and independently; but, as the needs which prompted the invention have been broadly similar, so the invention itself has been."

"That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and independently; but, as the needs which prompted the invention have been broadly similar, so the invention itself has been."

Lascelles Abercrombie, British Poet

Poetry, Invention, Needs

3

"For me concrete poetry was a particular way of using language which came out of a particular feeling, and I don't have control over whether this feeling is in me or not."

"For me concrete poetry was a particular way of using language which came out of a particular feeling, and I don't have control over whether this feeling is in me or not."

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish Poet

Poetry, Control, Feeling, Language

3

"Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler."

"Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry, First, Language, Rest

3

"The beauty, the poetry of the fear in their eyes. I didn't mind going to jail for, what, five, six hours? It was absolutely worth it."

"The beauty, the poetry of the fear in their eyes. I didn't mind going to jail for, what, five, six hours? It was absolutely worth it."

Johnny Depp, American Actor

Poetry, Beauty, Fear, Eyes

3

"So I suppose poetry, language, the shaping of it, was and remains for me an effort to make sense out of essentially senseless situations."

"So I suppose poetry, language, the shaping of it, was and remains for me an effort to make sense out of essentially senseless situations."

Thomas Lynch, American Politician

Poetry, Effort, Language, Sense

3

"Well you can't teach the poetry, but you can teach the craft."

"Well you can't teach the poetry, but you can teach the craft."

David Hockney, English Artist

3

"I've always written, all my life, and when I was very young I developed an interest in poetry."

"I've always written, all my life, and when I was very young I developed an interest in poetry."

Jeffery Deaver, American Writer

Poetry, Life, Interest

3

"I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality."

"I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry, Personality

3

"I was one of those dark, quiet kids that wrote poetry."

"I was one of those dark, quiet kids that wrote poetry."

Rick Springfield, American Musician

Poetry, Kids, Quiet

3

"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

3

"Poetry is of so subtle a spirit, that in the pouring out of one language into another it will evaporate."

"Poetry is of so subtle a spirit, that in the pouring out of one language into another it will evaporate."

John Denham, British Politician

Poetry, Language, Spirit, Will

3

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

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

A. R. Ammons, American Poet

Poetry, Living, Years

3

"We simply have not kept in touch with poetry."

"We simply have not kept in touch with poetry."

Paul Muldoon, English Poet

3

"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

3

"Concrete poets continue to turn out beautiful things, but to me they're more visual than oral, and they almost really belong on the wall rather than in a book. I haven't the least idea of where poetry is going."

"Concrete poets continue to turn out beautiful things, but to me they're more visual than oral, and they almost really belong on the wall rather than in a book. I haven't the least idea of where poetry is going."

James Laughlin, American Poet

Poetry, Idea, Poets

3

"Of course a poem is a two-way street. No poem is any good if it doesn't suggest to the reader things from his own mind and recollection that he will read into it, and will add to what the poet has suggested. But I do think poetry readings are very important."

"Of course a poem is a two-way street. No poem is any good if it doesn't suggest to the reader things from his own mind and recollection that he will read into it, and will add to what the poet has suggested. But I do think poetry readings are very important."

James Laughlin, American Poet

Poetry, Mind, Will

3

"No, what I should really like to do right now, in the full blaze of lights, before this illustrious assembly, is to shower every one of you with gifts, with flowers, with offerings of poetry - to be young once more, to ride on the crest of the wave."

"No, what I should really like to do right now, in the full blaze of lights, before this illustrious assembly, is to shower every one of you with gifts, with flowers, with offerings of poetry - to be young once more, to ride on the crest of the wave."

Knut Hamsun, Norwegian Author

Poetry, Flowers, Gifts, Now

3

"In my opinion, Al Moritz may be the best poet of his generation in Canada."

"In my opinion, Al Moritz may be the best poet of his generation in Canada."

George Murray, Canadian Poet

Poetry, Canada, May, Opinion

3

"There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all of us have felt deeply."

"There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all of us have felt deeply."

Thom Gunn, British Poet

Poetry, War, Popular, Vietnam

3

"A book is sent out into the world, and there is no way of fully anticipating the responses it will elicit. Consider the responses called forth by the Bible, Homer, Shakespeare - let alone contemporary poetry or a modern novel."

"A book is sent out into the world, and there is no way of fully anticipating the responses it will elicit. Consider the responses called forth by the Bible, Homer, Shakespeare - let alone contemporary poetry or a modern novel."

Chaim Potok, American Author

Poetry, Bible, Shakespeare, Will

3

"In the television age, the key distinction is between the candidate who can speak poetry and the one who can only speak prose."

"In the television age, the key distinction is between the candidate who can speak poetry and the one who can only speak prose."

Richard M. Nixon, American President

Poetry, Age, Key, Prose

3

"I've written some poetry I don't understand myself."

"I've written some poetry I don't understand myself."

Carl Sandburg, American Poet

3

"Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow up to that which we stored up as we grew."

"Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow up to that which we stored up as we grew."

Seamus Heaney, Irish Poet

3

"But I can only write what the muse allows me to write. I cannot choose, I can only do what I am given, and I feel pleased when I feel close to concrete poetry - still."

"But I can only write what the muse allows me to write. I cannot choose, I can only do what I am given, and I feel pleased when I feel close to concrete poetry - still."

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish Poet

3

"Poetry is above all a concentration of the power of language, which is the power of our ultimate relationship to everything in the universe."

"Poetry is above all a concentration of the power of language, which is the power of our ultimate relationship to everything in the universe."

Adrienne Rich, American Poet

Poetry, Power, Language, Universe

3

"I'm perfectly happy when I look out at an audience and it's all women. I always think it's kind of odd, but then, more women than men, I think, read and write poetry."

"I'm perfectly happy when I look out at an audience and it's all women. I always think it's kind of odd, but then, more women than men, I think, read and write poetry."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

3

"Slowly poetry becomes visual because it paints images, but it is also musical: it unites two arts into one."

"Slowly poetry becomes visual because it paints images, but it is also musical: it unites two arts into one."

Eugenio Montale, Italian Poet

3

"Journalism wishes to tell what it is that has happened everywhere as though the same things had happened for every man. Poetry wishes to say what it is like for any man to be himself in the presence of a particular occurrence as though only he were alone there."

"Journalism wishes to tell what it is that has happened everywhere as though the same things had happened for every man. Poetry wishes to say what it is like for any man to be himself in the presence of a particular occurrence as though only he were alone there."

Archibald MacLeish, American Poet

Poetry, Journalism, Man, Wishes

3

"All poetry has to do is to make a strong communication. All the poet has to do is listen. The poet is not an important fellow. There will also be another poet."

"All poetry has to do is to make a strong communication. All the poet has to do is listen. The poet is not an important fellow. There will also be another poet."

Stevie Smith, British Poet

Poetry, Communication, Will

3

"Let me read you some of my poetry. My poetry just takes me to another level."

"Let me read you some of my poetry. My poetry just takes me to another level."

Rick Fox, Canadian Actor

3

"True beauty is a rayThat springs from the sacred depths of the soul,and illuminates the body, just as lifesprings from the kernel of a stone andgives colour and scent to a flower."

"True beauty is a rayThat springs from the sacred depths of the soul,and illuminates the body, just as lifesprings from the kernel of a stone andgives colour and scent to a flower."

Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese Philosopher

Poetry, Truth, Happiness, Beauty, Freedom

3

"Prose talks and poetry sings."

"Prose talks and poetry sings."

Franz Grillparzer, Austrian Poet

3

"It's always a combination of physics and poetry that I find inspiring. It's hard to wrap your head around things like the Hubble scope."

"It's always a combination of physics and poetry that I find inspiring. It's hard to wrap your head around things like the Hubble scope."

Tom Hanks, American Actor

Poetry, Inspiring, Physics

3

"Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do."

"Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do."

Stephen Spender, English Poet

3

"Today the U.S. is farther from being nourished by poetry than it was a hundred years ago, when books of poems were best-sellers."

"Today the U.S. is farther from being nourished by poetry than it was a hundred years ago, when books of poems were best-sellers."

James Broughton, American Director

Poetry, Being, Books, Poems

3

"There's one of my new poems actually - is a good example of where my poetry has ended up. My earlier river poetry was more like a cross between Shelley and Dylan Thomas."

"There's one of my new poems actually - is a good example of where my poetry has ended up. My earlier river poetry was more like a cross between Shelley and Dylan Thomas."

Robert Adamson, Scottish Philosopher

Poetry, Example, Poems

3

"Romance like a ghost escapes touching; it is always where you are not, not where you are. The interview or conversation was prose at the time, but it is poetry in the memory."

"Romance like a ghost escapes touching; it is always where you are not, not where you are. The interview or conversation was prose at the time, but it is poetry in the memory."

George William Curtis, American Author

Poetry, Time, Romance, Conversation

3

"I've often entertained paranoid suspicions about my fridge and what it's been doing to my poetry when I'm not looking, but I never even considered that my fan was thinking about me."

"I've often entertained paranoid suspicions about my fridge and what it's been doing to my poetry when I'm not looking, but I never even considered that my fan was thinking about me."

George Murray, Canadian Poet

Poetry, Thinking

3

"Poetry is one of the destinies of speech... One would say that the poetic image, in its newness, opens a future to language."

"Poetry is one of the destinies of speech... One would say that the poetic image, in its newness, opens a future to language."

Gaston Bachelard, French Philosopher

Poetry, Future, Language, Speech

3

"You make autumn misttaste like champagne and turn winter raininto the elixir of life itself."

"You make autumn misttaste like champagne and turn winter raininto the elixir of life itself."

Sanober Khan, Indian Businessman

Poetry, Love, Nature, Emotion, Beauty

3

"Since the printing press came into being, poetry has ceased to be the delight of the whole community of man; it has become the amusement and delight of the few."

"Since the printing press came into being, poetry has ceased to be the delight of the whole community of man; it has become the amusement and delight of the few."

John Masefield, English Poet

Poetry, Amusement, Being, Community

3

"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

3

"If the object of poetry is, to make men, then poetry is the heir of prophecy."

"If the object of poetry is, to make men, then poetry is the heir of prophecy."

Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistani Poet

Poetry, Men, Heir, Prophecy

3

"I knew what book we had to write, it was clear in my head; it was journals and poetry. So I passed on their offer. I told my agent this is our vision, and no one's done it this way."

"I knew what book we had to write, it was clear in my head; it was journals and poetry. So I passed on their offer. I told my agent this is our vision, and no one's done it this way."

Kenny Loggins, American Musician

3

"I think that concrete poetry seems to have, as far as I can see, come to a kind of a dead end. It doesn't seem to be going any further than it went in its high period of about five or six years ago."

"I think that concrete poetry seems to have, as far as I can see, come to a kind of a dead end. It doesn't seem to be going any further than it went in its high period of about five or six years ago."

James Laughlin, American Poet

Poetry, End, Years

3

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