Poetry Quotes | Beyond Motive 9/15

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Poetry Quotes

"We all need ways to express ourselves, and poetry is one of mine."

"We all need ways to express ourselves, and poetry is one of mine."

Jack Prelutsky, American Poet

30

"The poetry of the earth is never dead."

"The poetry of the earth is never dead."

John Keats, English Poet

30

"My films are an extension of my poetry, using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images."

"My films are an extension of my poetry, using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images."

James Broughton, American Director

30

"But at the beginning it was clear to me that concrete poetry was peculiarly suited for using in public settings. This was my idea, but of course I never really much got the chance to do it."

"But at the beginning it was clear to me that concrete poetry was peculiarly suited for using in public settings. This was my idea, but of course I never really much got the chance to do it."

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish Poet

Poetry, Idea, Beginning, Chance

30

"And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written."

"And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written."

Mark Strand, American Poet

Poetry, Culture, Entertainment

30

"There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing."

"There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing."

John Cage, American Composer

Poetry, Nothing

30

"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

30

"Poetry should be able to reach everybody, and it should be able to appeal to all levels of understanding."

"Poetry should be able to reach everybody, and it should be able to appeal to all levels of understanding."

Peter Davison, British Actor

Poetry, Understanding

30

"The poetic notion of infinity is far greater than that which is sponsored by any creed."

"The poetic notion of infinity is far greater than that which is sponsored by any creed."

Joseph Brodsky, American Poet

Poetry, Infinity

30

"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

30

"I think there's no excuse for the American poetry reader not knowing a good deal about what is going on in the rest of the world."

"I think there's no excuse for the American poetry reader not knowing a good deal about what is going on in the rest of the world."

James Laughlin, American Poet

Poetry, Rest, World

30

"All the modern verse plays, they're terrible; they're mostly about the poetry. It's more important that the play is first."

"All the modern verse plays, they're terrible; they're mostly about the poetry. It's more important that the play is first."

Denis Johnson, German Writer

Poetry, First, Play

30

"Otherwise I don't read much adult poetry at all, because I'm not smart enough and mostly I don't get it."

"Otherwise I don't read much adult poetry at all, because I'm not smart enough and mostly I don't get it."

Jack Prelutsky, American Poet

30

"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

30

"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

30

"Poetry is an art, the easiest to dabble in, but the hardest to reach true excellence."

"Poetry is an art, the easiest to dabble in, but the hardest to reach true excellence."

J. G. Stedman, British Soldier

Poetry, Art, Excellence

30

"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

30

"Writing poetry makes you intensely conscious of how words sound, both aloud and inside the head of the reader. You learn the weight of words and how they sound to the ear."

"Writing poetry makes you intensely conscious of how words sound, both aloud and inside the head of the reader. You learn the weight of words and how they sound to the ear."

Helen Dunmore, British Poet

Poetry, Sound, Weight, Words

30

"And now, for something completely the same:Wasted time and wasted breath,'s what I'll make, until my death.Helping people 'd be as good,but I wouldn't, if I could.For the few that help deserve,have no need, or not the nerve,help from strangers to accept,plus from mine a few have wept.Wept from joy, or from despair,or just from my vengeful stare.Ways I have, to look at stupid,make them see I am not Cupid.Make them see they are in error,for of truth I am a bearer.Most decide I'm just a bear,mauling at them, - like I care."

"And now, for something completely the same:Wasted time and wasted breath,'s what I'll make, until my death.Helping people 'd be as good,but I wouldn't, if I could.For the few that help deserve,have no need, or not the nerve,help from strangers to accept,plus from mine a few have wept.Wept from joy, or from despair,or just from my vengeful stare.Ways I have, to look at stupid,make them see I am not Cupid.Make them see they are in error,for of truth I am a bearer.Most decide I'm just a bear,mauling at them, - like I care."

Will Advise, Bulgarian Author

Poetry, Bitterness, Truth, Irony

30

"They need to learn poetry. They don't need to learn about poetry. They don't need to be told how to interpret poetry. They don't need to be told how to understand poetry. They need to learn it."

"They need to learn poetry. They don't need to learn about poetry. They don't need to be told how to interpret poetry. They don't need to be told how to understand poetry. They need to learn it."

Peter Davison, British Actor

30

"It is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem,-a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit of a plant or an animal it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing. The thought and the form are equal in the order of time, but in the order of genesis the thought is prior to the form."

"It is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem,-a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit of a plant or an animal it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing. The thought and the form are equal in the order of time, but in the order of genesis the thought is prior to the form."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Poetry, Thought, Nature, Creation

30

"When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock 'n' roll was asleep."

"When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock 'n' roll was asleep."

Patti Smith, American Musician

Poetry, Thought, People, Duty

30

"With the need for the self in the time of another / I left my seaport grim and dear / knowing good work could be made / in the state governed by both Hope and Despair."

"With the need for the self in the time of another / I left my seaport grim and dear / knowing good work could be made / in the state governed by both Hope and Despair."

Roman Payne, American Novelist

Poetry, Self, Time, Work, Hope

30

"Written poetry is different. Best thing is to see it in performance first, then read it. Performance is more provocative."

"Written poetry is different. Best thing is to see it in performance first, then read it. Performance is more provocative."

Adrian Mitchell, British Poet

Poetry, Performance, First, Provocative

29

"The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science, along with behaviour control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers."

"The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science, along with behaviour control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers."

Lewis Thomas, English Scientist

Poetry, Science, Control, Growth

29

"The arts generally have had to recognize Modernism - how should poetry escape?"

"The arts generally have had to recognize Modernism - how should poetry escape?"

John C. Ransom, American Poet

29

"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

29

"I've never read a political poem that's accomplished anything. Poetry makes things happen, but rarely what the poet wants."

"I've never read a political poem that's accomplished anything. Poetry makes things happen, but rarely what the poet wants."

Howard Nemerov, American Poet

29

"I was a person full of wishes but without a star."

"I was a person full of wishes but without a star."

Shannon A. Thompson, American Author

Poetry, Hope, Desire, Loss, Emotion

29

"Rap is rhythm and poetry. Hip-hop is storytelling and poetry as well."

"Rap is rhythm and poetry. Hip-hop is storytelling and poetry as well."

Ajay Naidu, American Actor

29

"Poetry had far better imply things than preach them directly... in the open pulpit her voice grows hoarse and fails."

"Poetry had far better imply things than preach them directly... in the open pulpit her voice grows hoarse and fails."

F. L. Lucas, English Critic

Poetry, Open, Voice

29

"Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often with reference to gender and race or ethnic origins."

"Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often with reference to gender and race or ethnic origins."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

Poetry, Gender, Myths

29

"Poetry is what we turn to in the most emotional moments of our life - when a beloved friend dies, when a baby is born or when we fall in love."

"Poetry is what we turn to in the most emotional moments of our life - when a beloved friend dies, when a baby is born or when we fall in love."

Erica Jong, American Novelist

Poetry, Emotion, Life, Truth

29

"I've got mixed feelings about poetry cause done well poetry is fantastic. But not many people are capable of doing it well. I think you should have some kind of license to perform poetry. A poetic license perhaps."

"I've got mixed feelings about poetry cause done well poetry is fantastic. But not many people are capable of doing it well. I think you should have some kind of license to perform poetry. A poetic license perhaps."

Craig Ferguson, Scottish Comedian

Poetry, Creativity, Criticism, Art, Humor

29

"Well, the great thing for me about poetry is that in good poems the dislocation of words, that is to say, the distance between what they say they're saying and what they are actually saying is at its greatest."

"Well, the great thing for me about poetry is that in good poems the dislocation of words, that is to say, the distance between what they say they're saying and what they are actually saying is at its greatest."

Harry Mathews, American Author

Poetry, Poems, Saying, Words

29

"THE WILD ROSE " BY WENDELL BERRYSometimes, hidden from me in daily custom and in ritualI live by you unaware, as if by the beating of my heart.Suddenly you flare again in my sightA wild rose at the edge of the thicket where yesterday there was onlyshadeAnd I am blessed and choose again,That which I chose before."

"THE WILD ROSE " BY WENDELL BERRYSometimes, hidden from me in daily custom and in ritualI live by you unaware, as if by the beating of my heart.Suddenly you flare again in my sightA wild rose at the edge of the thicket where yesterday there was onlyshadeAnd I am blessed and choose again,That which I chose before."

Wendell Berry, American Poet

Poetry, Nature, Beauty, Appreciation, Gratitude

29

"Poetry and consumption are the most flattering of diseases."

"Poetry and consumption are the most flattering of diseases."

William Shenstone, English Poet

29

"Any long work in which poetry is persistent, be it epic or drama or narrative, is really a succession of separate poetic experiences governed into a related whole by an energy distinct from that which evoked them."

"Any long work in which poetry is persistent, be it epic or drama or narrative, is really a succession of separate poetic experiences governed into a related whole by an energy distinct from that which evoked them."

John Drinkwater, English Poet

Poetry, Work, Drama, Energy

28

"Poetry must be made by all and not by one."

"Poetry must be made by all and not by one."

Comte de Lautreamont, French Poet

28

"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

28

"I was in Paris at an English-language bookstore. I picked up a volume of Dickinson's poetry. I came back to my hotel, read 2,000 of her poems and immediately began composing in my head. I wrote down the melodies even before I got to a piano."

"I was in Paris at an English-language bookstore. I picked up a volume of Dickinson's poetry. I came back to my hotel, read 2,000 of her poems and immediately began composing in my head. I wrote down the melodies even before I got to a piano."

Gordon Getty, American Businessman

Poetry, English, Paris, Poems

28

"There is eloquence in the tonguelesswind, and a melody in the flowing brooks and the rustling of thereeds beside them, which by their inconceivable relation to somethingwithin the soul, awaken the spirits to a dance of breathlessrapture, and bring tears of mysterious tenderness to the eyes, likethe enthusiasm of patriotic success, or the voice of one belovedsinging to you alone."

"There is eloquence in the tonguelesswind, and a melody in the flowing brooks and the rustling of thereeds beside them, which by their inconceivable relation to somethingwithin the soul, awaken the spirits to a dance of breathlessrapture, and bring tears of mysterious tenderness to the eyes, likethe enthusiasm of patriotic success, or the voice of one belovedsinging to you alone."

Percy Bysshe Shelley, English Poet

Poetry, Nature, Beauty, Music, Soul

28

"Narrative art, the novel, from Murasaki to Proust, has produced great works of poetry."

"Narrative art, the novel, from Murasaki to Proust, has produced great works of poetry."

Eugenio Montale, Italian Poet

28

"I learned from Whitman that the poem is a temple - or a green field - a place to enter, and in which to feel. Only in a secondary way is it an intellectual thing - an artifact, a moment of seemly and robust wordiness -wonderful as that part of it is. I learned that the poem was made not just to exist, but to speak -to be company. It was everything that was needed, when everything was needed."

"I learned from Whitman that the poem is a temple - or a green field - a place to enter, and in which to feel. Only in a secondary way is it an intellectual thing - an artifact, a moment of seemly and robust wordiness -wonderful as that part of it is. I learned that the poem was made not just to exist, but to speak -to be company. It was everything that was needed, when everything was needed."

Mary Oliver, American Poet

Poetry, Observation, Truth, Wisdom

28

"My obsession with time informs my poetry so completely it is hard for me to summarize it. We want time to pass, for new things to happen to us, we want to hold on to certain moments, we don't want our lives to end."

"My obsession with time informs my poetry so completely it is hard for me to summarize it. We want time to pass, for new things to happen to us, we want to hold on to certain moments, we don't want our lives to end."

John Barton, Canadian Poet

Poetry, Time, End, Moments

28

"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

28

"Always learn poems by heart, ' she said. 'They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay."

"Always learn poems by heart, ' she said. 'They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay."

Janet Fitch, American Author

Poetry, Learning, Memory, Emotion

28

"Rouge of my heart, intertwined with double-hued destiny,Thread of my thoughts, constant and rubicund legacy,Filament of my future, endeared unto my expectation,Cord of my emotion, seared with eternal elation."

"Rouge of my heart, intertwined with double-hued destiny,Thread of my thoughts, constant and rubicund legacy,Filament of my future, endeared unto my expectation,Cord of my emotion, seared with eternal elation."

Jasper Fforde, British Novelist

Poetry, Destiny, Emotion, Love

28

"I was influenced by surrealist poetry and painting as were thousands of other people, and it seems to me to have become a part of the way I write, but it's not."

"I was influenced by surrealist poetry and painting as were thousands of other people, and it seems to me to have become a part of the way I write, but it's not."

Kenneth Koch, American Poet

Poetry, People, Painting

28

"So now I have a collection of poetry by Aaron Neville and I give it to people I want to share it with. I'd like to publish it someday."

"So now I have a collection of poetry by Aaron Neville and I give it to people I want to share it with. I'd like to publish it someday."

Aaron Neville, American Musician

Poetry, People, Now, Want

28

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