Definitions of Poetry Also see Poets on Poetry Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.

~ Poe

Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular ~ Aristotle.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation. ~Robert Frost Always be a poet, even in prose. ~Charles Baudelaire, "My Heart Laid Bare," Intimate Journals, 1864 Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ~Plato, Ion Poetry is to philosophy what the Sabbath is to the rest of the week. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827 Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes. ~Carl Sandburg Poetry is the key to the hieroglyphics of Nature. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827 The smell of ink is intoxicating to me - others may have wine, but I have poetry. ~Terri Guillemets Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement. ~Christopher Fry If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone. ~Thomas Hardy

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. ~Carl Sandburg Science is for those who learn; poetry, for those who know. ~Joseph Roux, Meditations of a Parish Priest Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. ~Thomas Gray Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. ~Robert Frost A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote. ~Yevgeny Yentushenko, The Sole Survivor, 1982 Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. ~T.S. Eliot, Dante, 1920 Poetry is everywhere; it just needs editing. ~James Tate Poetry is ordinary language raised to the nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words. ~Paul Engle, New York Times, 17 February 1957 Poetry is perfect verbs hunting for elusive nouns. ~J. Patrick Lewis, The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes. ~W. Somerset Maugham

To be a poet is a condition, not a profession. ~Robert Frost Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth. ~Samuel Johnson