Each memorable verse of a true poet has two or three times the written content. Alfred de Musset on poetry
The moment of change is the only poem. Adrienne Rich on poetry
To read a poem is to hear it with our eyes to hear it is to see it with our ears. Octavio Paz on poetry
You don't have to suffer to be a poet adolescence is enough suffering for anyone. John Ciardi on poetry
I sometimes talk about the making of a poem within the poem. Howard Nemerov on poetry
Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. Thomas Gray on poetry
If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem. M. H. Abrams on poetry
The poem is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see-it is, rather, a light by which we may see-and what we see is life. Robert Penn Warren on poetry
The poet may be used as a barometer, but let us not forget that he is also part of the weather. Lionel Trilling on poetry
Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads. Marianne Moore on poetry
The novel is born of disillusionment the poem, of despair. Jose Bergamin on poetry
Everyone thinks they're going to write one book of poems or one novel. Marilyn Hacker on poetry
Sometimes poetry is inspired by the conversation entered into by reading other poems. John Barton on poetry
I still read Donne, particularly his love poems. Carol Ann Duffy on poetry
I like poems that are little games. Peter Davison on poetry
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 on poetry
Usually a life turned into a poem is misrepresented. Mark Strand on poetry
Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure. Mark Strand on poetry
Poets are soldiers that liberate words from the steadfast possession of definition. Eli Khamarov on poetry
You don't make a poem with ideas, but with words. Stephane Mallarme on poetry