“The poet's pen is the true divining rod Which trembles towards the inner founts of feeling; Bringing to light and use, else hid from all, The many sweet clear sources which we have of good and beauty in our own deep bosoms; And marks the variations of all mind As does the needle.” MindDoeUseFeelingsLightClearPoetSweetSourceMarkPensVariationBosomsNeedles Book:Festus: a poem Source: Festus: a poem
“Poets, if they're genuine, must keep repeating "I don't know." Each poem marks an effort to answer this statement, but as soon as the final period hits the page, the poet begins to hesitate, starts to realize that this particular answer was pure makeshift that's absolutely inadequate to boot. So the poets keep on trying, and sooner or later the consecutive results of their self-dissatisfaction are clipped together with a giant paperclip by literary historians and called their oeuvre.” IfsKnowsTryingSelfTogetherRealizingAnswersResultsEffortParticularPoetPeriodsPurePagesMarkFinalsGenuineStatementsGiantsHistorianBootsSooner Or LaterInadequateDissatisfactionConsecutive Author:Wislawa Szymborska
“The high-water mark, so to speak, of Socialist literature is W.H. Auden, a sort of gutless Kipling.” PoetryLiteratureSpeakWaterPoetMarkSocialismSocialistAudenKipling Author:George Orwell
“One of the marks of a great poet is that he creates his own family of words and teaches them to live together in harmony and to help one another.” HelpingTogetherTeachPoetMarkHarmonyGreat Poet Author:Gerald Brenan
“I think that what's happening today, with all the young poets rushing from one college to another, lecturing at the drop of a hat and so on, is not too good; I think it might have a bad effect on a great many of the young poets. They - to quote Mark Twain - "swap juices" a little too much, so that they are in danger of losing their own identity and don't give themselves time enough in which to work out what's really of importance to them - they're too busy.” ThinkingGivingLittlesEnoughMightTodayYoungToo MuchEffectsDangerIdentityCollegePoetLosingHappeningsImportanceMarkBusyWork OutGreat MenHatsJuiceToo BusyRushingLecturing Author:Conrad Aiken