Poetry is more a threshold than a path. Seamus Heaney pathpoetrythreshold Change image and share on social
Poetry is my cheap means of transportation. By the end of the poem the reader should be in a different place from where he started. I would like him to be slightly disoriented at the end, like I drove him outside of town at night and dropped him off in a cornfield. Billy Collins cheapcornfielddisorient share on social
Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. Plato historynearpoetry Change image and share on social
Poetry is necessary, but is the poet? Carlos Drummond de Andrade poetpoetry Change image and share on social
Poetry is not a genre in harmony with the modern world; its innermost nature is hostile or indifferent to the dogmas of modern times, progress and the cult of the future. Octavio Paz cultdogmafuture Change image and share on social
Poetry is not a matter of feelings, it is a matter of language. It is language which creates feelings. Umberto Eco createfeelinglanguage Change image and share on social
Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things. T. S. Eliot emotionescapeexpression share on social
Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does. Allen Ginsberg bedexpressionlie Change image and share on social
Poetry is not an issue of form and enjambments. Poetry, as the word is classically used, has to do with sound and sense. It can be rhyme. It can be rhythm, pace, breath. Tim O'Brien breathclassicallyenjambment Change image and share on social
Poetry is not easy. Or should I say, real poetry is not easy. Robert Pinsky easypoetryreal Change image and share on social
