Poetry Quotes

Look at Allen Ginsberg. In poems like 'Kaddish' and 'Howl,' you can hear a cantor between the lines. It's fully alive, and I think that's what's missing in modern poetry. It's too dry and cerebral.

Derek Walcott
- Poetry
- Missing
If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague answer, such as, 'Poetry is the music of words,' or 'Poetry is the linguistic correction of disorder.'

A. R. Ammons
- Music
- Words
- Question

I believe that all poetry is formal in that it exists within limits, limits that are either inherited by tradition or limits that language itself imposes.

Mark Strand
- Believe
- Poetry
When I was in college, I wrote poetry very seriously, and then once I had started writing short stories, I didn't go back to poetry, partially because I felt like I understood how incredibly difficult it was.

Elizabeth McCracken
- Writing
- College
- Poetry
Prose is private drama; poetry is corporate drama. (p. 275)

Marshall McLuhan
- Poetry
- Drama
In order to write poetry, you must first invent a poet who will write it.

Antonio Machado
- Poetry
- Poet
I think there's no excuse for the American poetry reader not knowing a good deal about what is going on in the rest of the world.

James Laughlin
- World
- Good
- American
I'm happy to be a writer - of prose, poetry, every kind of writing. Every person in the world who isn't a recluse, hermit or mute uses words. I know of no other art form that we always use.

Maya Angelou
- World
- Writing
- Happy