39 Inspiring Poetry Quotes

Poetry has long been a source of inspiration, capturing the essence of human emotion in the most succinct and powerful ways. In a world where words often fall short, poets have the unique ability to transcend the ordinary and evoke profound feelings with their craft. Whether you're a longtime poetry enthusiast or new to the art form, our carefully curated collection of the top 39 inspiring poetry quotes is sure to ignite your imagination and speak to your soul. These quotes embody the beauty, complexity, and depth that only poetry can deliver, offering a momentary escape and a deeper connection to the human experience.

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

2. “Death Be Not ProudDeath, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be,Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,And soonest our best men with thee do go,Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,And better than thy stroke ; why swell'st thou then?One short sleep past, we wake eternally,And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” - John Donne

3. “And would it have been worth it, after all,Would it have been worth while,After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets, After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor - And this, and so much more? -” - T.S. Eliot

4. “No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.” - Khalil Gibran

5. “This is definitely / for the brothers / who ain't here.” - Willie Perdomo

6. “John Keats / John Keats / John / Please put your scarf on.” - J.D. Salinger

7. “Thirsty for being, the poet ceaselessly reaches out to reality, seeking with the indefatigable harpoon of the poem a reality that is always better hidden, more re(g)al. The poem’s power is as an instrument of possession but at the same time, ineffably, it expresses the desire for possession, like a net that fishes by itself, a hook that is also the desire of the fish. To be a poet is to desire and, at the same time, to obtain, in the exact shape of the desire.” - Julio Cortazar

8. “...you look at me like an emergency” - Adrienne Rich

9. “Poetry [is] more necessary than ever as a fire to light our tongues.” - Naomi Shihab Nye

10. “As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill.” - T.S. Eliot

11. “To be a poet is to place pleasure, beauty and sensual delights front and centre, it means having a predilection for debauchery.” - Nicole Brossard

12. “But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.” - Lewis Hyde

13. “This cruel age has deflected me,like a river from this course.Strayed from its familiar shores,my changeling life has flowedinto a sister channel.How many spectacles I've missed:the curtain rising without me,and falling too. How many friendsI never had the chance to meet.” - Anna Akhmatova

14. “Plût au ciel que le lecteur, enhardi et devenu momentanément féroce comme ce qu’il lit, trouve, sans se désorienter, son chemin abrupt et sauvage, à travers les marécages désolés de ces pages sombres et pleines de poison ; car, à moins qu'il n’apporte dans sa lecture une logique rigoureuse et une tension d’esprit égale au moins à sa défiance, les émanations mortelles de ce livre imbiberont son âme comme l’eau le sucre. Il n’est pas bon que tout le monde lise les pages qui vont suivre ; quelques-uns seuls savoureront ce fruit amer sans danger. Par conséquent, âme timide, avant de pénétrer plus loin dans de pareilles landes inexplorées, dirige tes talons en arrière et non en avant. Écoute bien ce que je te dis : dirige tes talons en arrière et non en avant.” - Lautreamont

15. “Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.” - Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

16. “After great pain, a formal feeling comes – The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs – The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,And Yesterday, or Centuries before?The Feet, mechanical, go round – Of Ground, or Air, or Ought – A Wooden way Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone – This is the Hour of Lead – Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow – First – Chill – then Stupor – then the letting go –” - Emily Dickenson

17. “Picnic, LightningIt is possible to be struck by a meteoror a single-engine planewhile reading in a chair at home.Safes drop from rooftopsand flatten the odd pedestrianmostly within the panels of the comics,but still, we know it is possible,as well as the flash of summer lightning,the thermos toppling over,spilling out on the grass.And we know the messagecan be delivered from within.The heart, no valentine,decides to quit after lunch,the power shut off like a switch,or a tiny dark ship is unmooredinto the flow of the body’s rivers,the brain a monastery,defenseless on the shore.This is what I think aboutwhen I shovel compostinto a wheelbarrow,and when I fill the long flower boxes,then press into rowsthe limp roots of red impatiens—the instant hand of Deathalways ready to burst forthfrom the sleeve of his voluminous cloak.Then the soil is full of marvels,bits of leaf like flakes off a fresco,red-brown pine needles, a beetle quickto burrow back under the loam.Then the wheelbarrow is a wilder blue,the clouds a brighter white,and all I hear is the rasp of the steel edgeagainst a round stone,the small plants singingwith lifted faces, and the clickof the sundialas one hour sweeps into the next.” - Billy Collins

18. “Too lazy to be ambitious,I let the world take care of itself.Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?Listening to the night rain on my roof,I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.” - Ryokan

19. “سريري غيمة ووسادتي من نجوم وقلبي نصف قمر مضيء” - لطيفة الحاج

20. “All of these teeth had once been in real, live people. They had talked and smiled and eaten and sang and cursed and prayed. They had brushed and flossed and died. In English class, we read poems about death, but here, right in front of me was a poem about death too.” - Gabrielle Zevin

21. “Poetry is the whispering of a truth by the shouting of the best possible lies” - Oscar Sparrow

22. “The illusion reflected within the mirror whispered a door of returning daydreams...” - Lionel Suggs

23. “তোমাকে যখন দেখি, তারচেয়ে বেশি দেখিযখন দেখি না।চড়ুই পাখিরা জানেআমি কার প্রতিক্ষায় বসে আছি-তুমি ব্যস্ত, তুমি একা, তুমি অন্তরাল ভালোবাসো!সন্ন্যাসীর মতো হাহাকার করে উঠি-দেখা দাও, দেখা দাও,পরমুহূর্তেই ফের চোখ মুছি।হেসে বলি,তুমি যেখানেই যাও, আমি সঙ্গে আছি!” - Sunil Gangopadhyay

24. “...have I told you? - your eyes are a dark poem of dancing snow at midnight ...” - John Geddes

25. “words...To lure the tribal shoals to epigram / And order.” - Seamus Heaney

26. “and you taste / of the memory of god abandoned.” - Mikl Paul

27. “Maybe they will only find one another by being somewhere they have never been and maybe none of this has a thing to do with forgiveness but home doesn't always resemble the path.” - Mikl Paul

28. “Sono apparso alla madonna.” - Carmelo Bene

29. “So when you inhale and exhale, notice your breath and realize God is dwelling in your chest.” - Trinka Polite

30. “Through words to the meaning of thoughts with no words.” - Dejan Stojanovic

31. “Hope without love is hopeless.” - Dejan Stojanovic

32. “History will be erased in the universal purgatory.” - Dejan Stojanovic

33. “To dream on occasion is not dreaming, To love on occasion is not love.” - Dejan Stojanovic

34. “From everything, nothing looks to nothing.” - Dejan Stojanovic

35. “I thought, "The flowers, save the flowers..."I never thought for a secondwe wouldn't save the people” - Andrea Gibson

36. “Unasked, Unsought, Love gives itself but is not bought” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

37. “الأبُ الغائبُ.المرأةُ المجهولةُ في طفولتي السوداء، أُمِّي.شجرةُ العائلةِ العارية كهيكلٍ عظميّ.غابةُ الأصدقاءِ البعيدة.قصصُ العشقِ ذاتَ الأبوابِ الحزينةِ دائمًا.رسائلُنا.الأمكنةُ والمراحلُ والآخرون.حياتي، تحتَ المطرِ، حائطٌ. هل من عقابٍأقسى من الزمنِ؟.” - سوزان عليوان

38. “Terketmedi sevdan beni, Aç kaldım, susuz kaldım, Hayın, karanlıktı gece, Can garip, can suskun, Can paramparça... Ve ellerim, kelepçede, Tütünsüz uykusuz kaldım, Terketmedi sevdan beni...” - Ahmed Arif

39. “A few weeks later, in the wood,I came across Miss Riding Hood.But what a change! No cloak of red,No silly hood upon her head.She said, 'Hello, and do please noteMy lovely furry wolfskin coat.” - Roald Dahl