“Poetry interprets in two ways: it interprets by expressing, with magical felicity, the physiognomy and movements of the outward world; and it interprets by expressing, with inspired conviction, the ideas and laws of the inward world of man's moral and spiritual nature. In other words, poetry is interpretative both by having natural magic in it, and by having moral profundity.” MenWorldWayTwoIdeasSpiritualLawPoetryNaturalMoralMagicMovementInspiredConvictionPoetry IsInwardTwo WaysFelicityProfunditySpiritual NaturePhysiognomy Book:Essays in Criticism Source: Essays in Criticism
“Poetry is the most direct and simple means of expressing oneself in words: the most primitive nations have poetry, but only quitewell developed civilizations can produce good prose. So don't think of poetry as a perverse and unnatural way of distorting ordinary prose statements: prose is a much less natural way of speaking than poetry is. If you listen to small children, and to the amount of chanting and singsong in their speech, you'll see what I mean.” IfsThinkingWayMeanChildrenPoetryNationsNaturalSimpleProducePoetAmountCivilizationSpeechOrdinaryDirectOneselfStatementsProsePoetry IsPrimitiveUnnaturalSmall ChildChantingExpressing Oneself Author:Northrop Frye
“For Aliki Barnstone, poetry seems a natural medium. The vision and cadences of these poems suggest a sensibility for which poetry is as inevitable as breathing or eating.” SeemsNaturalVisionEatingMediumsInevitableBreathingPoetry IsSensibilityCadence Author:Robert Pinsky
“Willmott, the English essayist, says poetry is the natural religion of literature.” PoetryLiteratureNaturalPoetry IsEssayists Author:William Rounseville Alger