posted June 24, 2013 08:50 AM            

"The profoundest gift of the spirit of poetry
is the gift of peace."
~Powys

"Poetry implies the whole truth, philosophy
expresses a particle of it."
~Thoreau

"Eroticism is first and foremost a thirst for otherness. And the supernatural is the supreme otherness. This is perhaps the most noble aim of poetry, to attach ourselves to the world around us, to turn desire into love, to embrace, finally what always evades us, what is beyond, but what is always there – the unspoken, the spirit, the soul."
~ Octavio Paz

"The pearl is the disease of the oyster.
A poem is the disease of the spirit
Caused by the irritation
Of a granule of Truth
Fallen into that soft gray bivalve
We call the mind."
~Morley

"There is a pleasure in poetic pains
Which only poets know."
~Cowper

"The more articulate one is, the more dangerous words become."
~May Sarton

"The messages of great poems to each man and woman are, Come to us on equal terms, only then can you understand us. We are no better than you, what we inclose you inclose, what we enjoy you may enjoy."
~Whitman

"A poet is a bird of unearthly excellence, who escapes from his celestial realm arrives in this world warbling. If we do not cherish him, he spreads his wings and flies back into his homeland."
~Khalil Gibran

"Poetry, native and true poetry, is nothing
else than each poet's innermost feeling issuing in rhythmic language."
~Keble

posted July 03, 2013 10:20 AM            

*

posted July 17, 2013 02:19 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pearlty:

My own little thought- I had not too long ago..

There are poems
which happily write
themselves, imitating
the lighter side of life.
Then there are poems
lonely as the
dismal shaded night
breaking apart the mind.
Sinking lower and further
down into myself
so that, I may cry.

---

posted July 17, 2013 10:54 AM            

This is my favorite so far:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pearlty:

"Poetry is the place where language in its silence is most beautifully articulated. Poetry is the language of silence. If you look at a page of prose, it is crowded with words. If you look at a page of poetry, the slim word shapes are couched in the empty whiteness of the page. The page is a place of silence where the contour of the word is edged and the expression is heightened in an intimate way. It is interesting to look at your language and the words that you tend to use to see if you can hear a stillness or silence. One way to invigorate and renew your language is to expose yourself to poetry. In poetry your language will find cleansing illumination and sensuous renewal."
~John O'Donohue

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posted July 17, 2013 11:02 AM            

-Joseph Conrad

posted July 17, 2013 07:21 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pearlty:

"The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will."
~Czeslaw Milosz

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posted July 18, 2013 08:53 AM            

“One should always be drunk. That's all that matters...But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk.”
― Charles Baudelaire

"A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
― Dylan Thomas

“Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay.”
― Janet Fitch

posted July 18, 2013 12:08 PM            

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”
― Leonard Cohen

“Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.”
― W.B. Yeats

“Poetry is an act of peace. Peace goes into the making of a poet as flour goes into the making of bread.”
― Pablo Neruda