Saturday, May 26, 2007

Poetry Quotes

A meme from Sam Rasnake: “Give us at least 10 quotations pertaining to poetry - from 10 different writers &/or poets which best coincide with your philosophy vis a vis ars poetica. They can be posthumous or otherwise. The order is not important - unless it is to you.”

If the number ten is too daunting, go for less.

Here are mine. I have so many more but don't know them word for word and can't find them.

Poetry is sacred, providing salvation in a secular world.
Octavia Paz


Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is a speaking picture.
Simonides



Poetry is a mixture of common sense, which not all have, with an uncommon sense, which very few have.
John Masefield


Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does.
Allen Ginsberg


Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild.
Denis Diderot


If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger.
Muriel Rukeyser


Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
Mark Strand


A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko


Ordering a man to write a poem is like commanding a pregnant woman to give birth to a red-headed child."
Carl Sandburg


A poem...begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness...It finds the thought and the thought finds the words."
Robert Frost


I'm tagging the following people to do the same.

Tom Blessing

Helen Losse

Lee Herrick

12 comments:

DeadMule said...

Hi Pris, They're up. http://helenl.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/poetry-quotes/ Helen

sam of the ten thousand things said...

I like this list. And the Paz is one to carry with you forever. Enjoyed the quotations, Pris.

Stu said...

Fantastic quotes... only a couple that I'd hear before... many of them are truly awe-inspiring.

Pris said...

Sam and Stu..thanks! This inspired me to get a tiny notebook and jot down quotes that make a difference when I see them. I'm glad you like the selection.

Helen, I'll go have a looksee at what you chose now and post to you there.

Pris

Lee Herrick said...

Pris, I will post mine now.

Lyle Daggett said...

Hi, Pris -- no poetry quotes to offer at the moment, just wanted to say thanks for the comment in my blog, and for your reply comment in the Suzanne post below. An amazing story you told.

My computer came back from computer hospital, then when they were double-checking it they found some other fool thing wrong, so it's gone back to the main service center for some more work. Grrrr...

Good news, however (at least crossing my fingers, based on what they've told me) is that it sounds like the repair bill won't be too huge.

Am able to get online sporadically with a borrowed computer here and there for the time being. Still slowing me down though, which however also has its good side. Anyway hoping to be back online sometime soon. Film at 11.

Cheers.

Pris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pris said...

Hi Lyle
I count my blessings that I met my tech friend who was a host on the Windows Forum about 5 years ago now and he lived near me. He helps me for nothing or for such a low fee it's rediculous, working with issues such as my hard drives, CD, and DVD drives disappearing from view in Windows Explorer after putting a corrupt flash drive into my USB port, via remote control from his office over his lunch hour. We try to pay him back with our work on his A/C but he does so much more. Good luck with yours.

And yes, that story. He married a much younger woman finally who guards his contact with females from his 'past life' ferociously and who is a raving success, herself. I know since he wrote me once more, after a marriage before this one failed, sounding terribly depressed. I was concerned enough that I made my first contact in those years between. Got him at the uni right before one of his classes so he told me to call him at home later. A young possessive sounding voice picked up. He was already involved. Already found solace. Dropped me a short note saying contacts caused serious problems, so he was telling all past females who even knew him never to contact him again. He was light-hearted and fun when I knew him. I hope he's happy.

Collin Kelley said...

Good selection, Pris! Love the Rukeyser quote.

tom said...

i will work on this -

Pris said...

Hi Collin, thanks.

Tom, I know you'll find some good ones.

Michael Parker said...

A few of these I am familiar with. I love them all, especially from Octavio Paz.