Poetry operates by hints and dark suggestions. It is full of secrets and hidden formulae, like a witch's brew. Anthony Hecht
There is no gilding of setting sun or glamor of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers' wives. Hamlin Garland
Poetry is at least an elegance and at most a revelation. Robert Fitzgerald
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
Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, there is no reason either in football or in poetry why the two should not meet in a man's life if he has the weight and cares about the words. Archibald MacLeish
If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague answer, such as, 'Poetry is the music of words,' or 'Poetry is the linguistic correction of disorder.' A. R. Ammons
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
I am grateful for - though I can't keep up with - the flood of articles, theses, and textbooks that mean to share insight concerning the nature of poetry. A. R. Ammons
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
Poetry leads us to the unstructured sources of our beings, to the unknown, and returns us to our rational, structured selves refreshed. A. R. Ammons
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. A. R. Ammons
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. A. R. Ammons
Besides the actual reading in class of many poems, I would suggest you do two things: first, while teaching everything you can and keeping free of it, teach that poetry is a mode of discourse that differs from logical exposition. A. R. Ammons
I realized poetry's the thing that I can do 'cause I can stick at it and work with tremendous intensity. Philip Levine
The irony is, going to work every day became the subject of probably my best poetry. Philip Levine
Meet some people who care about poetry the way you do. You'll have that readership. Keep going until you know you're doing work that's worthy. And then see what happens. That's my advice. Philip Levine
Now I think poetry will save nothing from oblivion, but I keep writing about the ordinary because for me it's the home of the extraordinary, the only home. Philip Levine
My mother carried on and supported us her ambition had been to write poetry and songs. Philip Levine
My art and poetry is very political now. Because you've got to find that truth within you and express yourself. Somewhere out there, I know, there will be people who will listen. Jack Bowman
In my opinion, the most significant works of the twentieth century are those that rise beyond the conceptual tyranny of genre they are, at the same time, poetry, criticism, narrative, drama, etc. Juan Goytisolo