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At school, I was never given a sense that poetry was something flowery or light. It's a complex and controlled way of using language. Rhythms and the music of it are very important. But the difficulty is that poetry makes some kind of claim of honesty.

The first test any poem must pass is no longer, 'Is it true to nature?' but a criterion looking in a different direction: namely, 'Is it sincere? Is it genuine?'

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.

And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so.

Poetry is the utterance of deep and heart-felt truth - the true poet is very near the oracle.

Only those ignorant of what poetry means will ask the question: what is it good for?

There's a fierce practicality and empiricism which the whole imaginative, lyrical aspect of poetry comes from.

The first function of poetry is to tell the truth, to learn how to do that, to find out what you really feel and what you really think.

There is something about poetry beyond prose logic, there is mystery in it, not to be explained but admired.