Poetry is like truth: on one level it simply is, and as…

I still believe in this country, that it can fulfill the destiny Blake and Whitman envisioned. I still believe in American poetry.

— Philip Levine

I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…

— Umberto Eco

Probably the high-watermark of [Bob] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American…

— Jay Michaelson

Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to…

— Josephine Jacobsen

I'm educating myself more about world poetry. I know a lot about contemporary American poetry, so I felt I needed to learn more about…

— Allison Joseph

“Tell this to ladies: how a hero man Assail a thick and scandalous giant Who casts true shadow in the sun, And die, but…

— John Crowe Ransom

“LIFE IS NEVER OVER.”

— Amy King

American poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet.

— Diane Wakoski

Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often with reference to…

— Diane Wakoski

American poetry is always about defining oneself individually,claiming one's right to be different and often to break taboos.

— Diane Wakoski

Mandelstam is the sort of poet who comes along very, very rarely. Even the two Russian poets whose work is often linked with his…

— Christian Wiman

Kerouac: You're ruining American poetry, O'Hara. O'Hara: That's more than you ever did for it, Kerouac

— Frank O'Hara

“Mr Rutger cornet de Groot. Never read any American poetry or any other foreign poetry, which is why he always mentions 2 poets as…

— Martinus Hendrikus Benders

I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the…

— Mark Strand

From reading a previous answer, you know that I consider all those aspects to be part of American cultural myth and thus they figure…

— Diane Wakoski