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By the general process of epic poetry, I mean the way this form of art has constantly responded to the profound needs of the society in which it was made.

A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art.

Any long work in which poetry is persistent, be it epic or drama or narrative, is really a succession of separate poetic experiences governed into a related whole by an energy distinct from that which evoked them.

With several different kinds of poetry to choose from, a man would decide that he would like best to be an epic poet, and he would set out, in conscious determination, on an epic poem.

Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.

The other side of it is that, despite all that, people reach out to poetry at the key moments in their lives.

The epic poet has behind him a tradition of matter and a tradition of style; and that is what every other poet has behind him too; only, for the epic poet, tradition is rather narrower, rather more strictly compelling.

A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain.

Poetry being the sign of that which all men desire, even though the desire be unconscious, intensity of life or completeness of experience, the universality of its appeal is a matter of course.

Poetry can tell us about what's going on in our lives - not only our personal but our social and political lives.