quotations about poetry
Hark, his hands the lyre explore!
Bright-eyed Fancy, hov'ring o'er,
Scatters from her pictur'd urn
Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.
THOMAS GRAY
The Poems
What does it mean to be a great poet? It means that you wrote one or two great poems. Or great parts of poems. That's all it means. Don't try to picture the waste or it will alarm you.
NICHOLSON BAKER
The Anthologist
How do poems grow? They grow out of your life.
ROBERT PENN WARREN
The New York Times, May 12, 1985