Poetry, even when apparently most fantastic, is always a revolt against artifice, a revolt, in a sense, against actuality.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is.
Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness.
It is my belief that many who think they dislike poetry are really poetical in their natures and are indebted to it, more than they imagine, for the success they may have achieved, even in practical pursuits, and for the enjoyment their lives have afforded them.
Poetry is not a genre in harmony with the modern world; its innermost nature is hostile or indifferent to the dogmas of modern times, progress and the cult of the future.
In a war situation or where violence and injustice are prevalent, poetry is called upon to be something more than a thing of beauty.
I think that I have less conviction than ever that poetry matters - that poetry changes or saves anything or anyone. But, in fact, that's tremendously freeing. If it doesn't matter much, the stakes are lower and you can't really fail. It's insurrection. It's a tiny alphabet revolution. A secret. A psalm.
Poetry is a beautiful way of spoiling prose, and the laborious art of exchanging plain sense for harmony.
Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, but with its subject.
Poetry is at least an elegance and at most a revelation.
There's a fierce practicality and empiricism which the whole imaginative, lyrical aspect of poetry comes from.