Quote

The decision to write in prose instead of poetry is made more by the readers than by writers. Almost no one is interested in reading narrative in verse.

What I do say is that I can write verse, and that the writing of verse in strict form is the best possible training for writing good prose.

There are people who think it's easier to write books in verse, and it's definitely not.

It is a fact often observed, that men have written good verses under the inspiration of passion, who cannot write well under other circumstances.

I have not the slightest pretension to call my verses poetry; I write now and then for no other purpose than to relieve depression or to improve my English.

Poetry seems to sink into us the way prose doesn't. I can still quote verses I learned when I was very young, but I have trouble remembering one line of a novel I just finished reading.

Verse is not written, it is bled; Out of the poet's abstract head. Words drip the poem on the page; Out of his grief, delight and rage.