Home / Topics / Poet Quotes

Poet Quotes

Browse 4287 quotes about Poet.

Poet Quotes

“I think a good deal may be said to extenuate the fault of bad Poets. What we call a Genius, is hard to be distinguish'd by a man himself, from a strong inclination: and if his genius be ever so great, he can not at first discover it any other way, than by giving way to that prevalent propensity which renders him the more liable to be mistaken.”

Ifs Thinking Men Way Giving Firsts May Said Hard Strong Deals Poet Genius Faults Mistaken Can Not Inclination Liable Propensity Giving Way

Book:Poems: Pastoral poetry, and An essay on criticism

Source: Poems: Pastoral poetry, and An essay on criticism

“Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.”

Pain Joy Poetry Deals Wonder Poet Poetry Is Dictionary Great Poetry Joy And Pain Reading Poetry Poetry Reading

Book:The New Frontier and Sand and Foam

Source: The New Frontier and Sand and Foam

“What it 't to us, if taxes rise or fall, Thanks to our fortune, we pay none at all. Let muckworms who in dirty acres deal, Lament those hardships which we cannot feel, His grace who smarts, may bellow if he please, But must I bellow too, who sit at ease? By custom safe, the poets' numbers flow, Free as the light and air some years ago. No statesman e'er will find it worth his pains To tax our labours, and excise our brains. Burthens like these with earthly buildings bear, No tributes laid on castles in the air.”

Source: Poetical Works: With a Memoir by James L. Hannay and Copious Notes by W. Tooke

“Some certified nut Will try to tell you it's poetry, (It's extraordinary, it makes a great deal of sense) But watch out or he'll start with some New notion or other.”

Trying Poetry Deals Watches Poet Extraordinary Notion Nuts

Book:Selected poems

Source: Selected poems

“I wrote a great deal of verse. In fact, every time I fell in love, which was rather often, I burst into the emotional sort of thing which is perennially salable.”

Facts Poetry Deals Emotional Poet Verses

Book:A woman of fifty

Source: A woman of fifty

“I am grown old, and have possibly lost a great deal of that fire, which formerly made me love fire in others at any rate, and however attended with smoke: but now I must have all sense, and cannot, for the sake of five righteous lines, forgive a thousand absurd ones.”

Made Poetry Literature Lost Lines Deals Fire Five Poet Thousand Forgiving Rate Sake Absurd Smoke Righteous Obscurity

Book:Lord Chesterfield's Letters

Source: Lord Chesterfield's Letters

“It is unwise to equate scientific activity with what we call reason, poetic activity with what we call imagination. Without the imaginative leap from facts to generalisation, no theoretic discovery in science is made. The poet, on the other hand, must not imagine but reason--that is to say, he must exercise a great deal of consciously directed thought in the selection and rejection of his data: there is a technical logic, a poetic reasoning in his choice of the words, rhythms and images by which a poem's coherence is achieved.”

“Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.”

Thinking Looks Artist Literature Deals Poet Perspective Ought Highest Merit Statues

Book:The Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Novels, Short Stories, Poems, Essays, Letters and Memoirs (Illustrated): The Scarlet Letter with its Adaptation, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, Tanglewood Tales, Birthmark, Ghost of Doctor Harris… (Including Biographies and Literary Criticism)

Source: The Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Novels, Short Stories, Poems, Essays, Letters and Memoirs (Illustrated): The Scarlet Letter with its Adaptation, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, Tanglewood Tales, Birthmark, Ghost of Doctor Harris… (Including Biographies and Literary Criticism)

“Over many years so many poets have touched my imagination and opened paths for me - it hardly makes sense to list them. I have always read a great deal of poetry.”

Years Imagination Deals Path Poet Lists Make Sense Touched My Imagination

Author:Adrienne Rich

“I do believe that one's writing life needs to be kept separate from Po-Biz. Personally, I deal with this by not attending too many poetry readings, primarily reading dead poets or poems in translation, reading Poets & Writers only once for grant/contest information before I quickly dispose of it, and not reading Poetry Daily. Ever.”

Needs Writing Believe Reading Deals Information Poet Grants Contests Writing Life Translations Attending Reading Poetry Dead Poets Poetry Reading

Author:Cate Marvin

“There is this tendency to think that if you could only find the magic way, then you could become a poet. "Tell me how to become a poet. Tell me what to do." . . . What makes you a poet is a gift for language, an ability to see into the heart of things, and an ability to deal with important unconscious material. When all these things come together, you're a poet. But there isn't one little gimmick that makes you a poet. There isn't any formula for it.”

Ifs Thinking Way Heart Littles Important Together Language Ability Deals Magic Poet Materials Tendencies Unconscious Formulas Ability To See Gimmicks

Author:Erica Jong

“There's a sameness about American poetry that I don't think represents the whole people. It represents a poetry of the moment, a poetry of evasion, and I have problems with this. I believe poetry has always been political, long before poets had to deal with the page and white space . . . it's natural.”

People Thinking Believe Long Whole Moments Problem Political I Believe Natural Space White Deals Poet Pages Sameness Evasion American Poetry This I Believe White Space

Author:Yusef Komunyakaa

“Even if you're a poet sitting in your room writing a poem, you're still in the world - although I guess being a poet is a different than having to deal with 40 or 50 people to raise a couple million bucks and all that bullshit.”

People Ifs World Writing Stills Different Rooms Deals Millions Poet Couple Sitting Raises Bullshit Bucks Your Room

Author:Abel Ferrara

“I'm from Chicago, so the Chicago working-class poets still mean a great deal to me.”

Mean Stills Deals Class Poet Chicago Working Class

Author:Sandra Cisneros

“I'm of the opinion that poetry is always political, and cannot help but be so, regardless of the poet's intent, given that refusing to deal in politics is in itself a political act.”

Helping Political Given Deals Opinion Poet Poetry Is

Author:Andre Naffis-Sahely