Approach Quote by Deborah Jowitt

The poetry of speech.

— Lord Byron

Poetry springs directly from our primal need and capacity for communication[Poetry] mobilizes such a concentration of devices, such an intensification of language via rhythm,…

— Sven Birkerts

Prose talks and poetry sings.

— Franz Grillparzer

“To the poet, Every act is poetry; From cutting the grass, To cleaning a headstone. From walking, To breathing. Every act is something worth…

— Eric Overby

A poet articulating the dreads and horrors of our time is necessary in order to make readers understand what is happening, really understand it,…

— Denise Levertov

Poetry should... should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a remembrance.

— John Keats

A poem needs imaginative rhythms as well as imaginative transformation of content.

— Helen Vendler

“War, I have always said, forces men to change their standards, regardless of whether their country has won or lost. Poetics and philosophies disintegrate…

— Salvatore Quasimodo

“In the beginning, poets make their best efforts to fit words into their rhyme and lyric. However, as time passes and the ink mystifies,…

— Alok Mishra

A grain of poetry suffices to season a century.

— Jose Marti

“Somehow something has gone wrong with poetry in our culture. We have lost touch with its purpose and value, and in doing so, we…

— Gregory Orr

“But that's a good match for the way I've always approached life. I've always believed in motion and action, in following connections wherever they…

— Jay-Z