Books Quote by Allen Tate

A poem has secrets that the poet knows nothing of.

— Stanley Kunitz

The poet does not know - often he will never know - whom he really writes for.

— Eugenio Montale

Poets do not compose their poems with knowledge, but by some inborn talent and by inspiration, like seers and prophets who also say many…

— Plato

I soon realized that poets do not compose their poems with knowledge, but by some inborn talent and by inspiration, like seers and prophets…

— Socrates

You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.

— Helen Vendler

To know anything of a poet but his poetry is, so far as the poetry is concerned, to know something that may be entertaining,…

— John Drinkwater

Poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don't know you know.

— Adrienne Rich

The poet can only write the poems; it takes the reader to complete the meaning.

— Nikki Giovanni

A poet's words are of things that do not exist without the words.

— Wallace Stevens

As a poet who has the tools for interpreting the poem differently, you can begin to deconstruct it. But the human being who's like,…

— Jacqueline Woodson

Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew. It is a learned skill to force yourself to…

— David Whyte

“To my way of thinking the function of the poet is to make us aware of what we know and don't know we know.”

— William S. Burroughs