Life is a journey filled with moments of joy, sorrow, reflection, and growth. Poetry has a unique way of capturing these experiences in beautifully crafted words that resonate deeply with our emotions. In this collection, we’ve gathered 65 poignant poem quotes about life that inspire, comfort, and provoke thought. Whether you’re seeking motivation or a new perspective, these quotes offer timeless wisdom from some of the greatest poets.
1. “Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity.” - William Butler Yeats
2. “...in that rich earth a richer dust concealed.(I'm flogging a dead horse w/ this one but this is the 1st time I've even seen this quotes feature! I just wanted to post something.)” - Rupert Brooke
3. “Every moment of the nightForever changing placesAnd they put out the star-lightWith the breath from their pale faces” - Edgar Allen Poe
4. “Don't be afraid of poetry.” - Clifton Fadiman
5. “Was not writing poetry a secret transaction, a voice answering a voice?” - Virginia Woolf
6. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of being and ideal grace.I love thee to the level of every day'sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for right.I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.I love thee with the passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.” - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
7. “L'anémone et l'ancolieOnt poussé dans le jardinOù dort la mélancolieEntre l'amour et le dédainIl y vient aussi nos ombresQue la nuit dissiperaLe soleil qui les rend sombresAvec elles disparaîtraLes déités des eaux vivesLaissent couler leurs cheveuxPasse il faut que tu poursuivesCette belle ombre que tu veux” - Guillaume Apollinaire
8. “Evening by eveningAmong the Brookside rushes,Laura bow'd her head to hear,Lizzie veil'd her blushes:Crouching close togetherIn the cooling weather,With clasping arms and cautioning lips,With tingling cheeks and fingertips."lie close," Laura said,Pricking up her golden head:"We must not look at Goblin men,We must not buy their fruits:who knows upon the soil they fedTheir hungry thirsty roots?""Come buy," call the GoblinsHobbling down the glen” - Christina Rossetti
9. “nothing's news.it's the same old thing indisguise.only one thing comes without adisguise and you only see itonce, ormaybe never.like getting hit by a freighttrain.makes us realize that all ourmoaning about long lost girlsin gingham dressesis not so importantafterall.” - Charles Bukowski
10. “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rage at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” - Dylan Thomas
11. “I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree.A tree whose hungry mouth is pressedAgainst the earth's sweet flowing breast;A tree that looks at God all dayAnd lifts her leafy arms to pray;A tree that may in summer wearA nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree.” - Joyce Kilmer
12. “Ourchestra:So you haven't got a drum, just beat your belly.So I haven't got a horn-I'll play my nose.So we haven't any cymbals-We'll just slap our hands together,And though there may be orchestrasThat sound a little betterWith their fancy shiny instrumentsThat cost an awful lot-Hey, we're making music twice as goodBy playing what we've got!” - Shel Silverstein
13. “the poem doesn’t have stanzas, it has a body, the poem doesn’t have lines,/ it has blood, the poem is not written with letters, it’s written/ with grains of sand and kisses, petals and moments, shouts and/ uncertainties.” - José Luis Peixoto
14. “Maybe you could be mine / or maybe we’ll be entwined / aimless in this sexless foreplay.” - Jess C. Scott
15. “Defenceless under the nightOur world in stupor lies;Yet, dotted everywhere,Ironic points of lightFlash out wherever the JustExchange their messages:May I, composed like themOf Eros and of dust,Beleaguered by the sameNegation and despair,Show an affirming flame.” - W.H. Auden
16. “À une passanteLa rue assourdissante autour de moi hurlait. Longue, mince, en grand deuil, douleur majestueuse, Une femme passa, d'une main fastueuse Soulevant, balançant le feston et l'ourlet;Agile et noble, avec sa jambe de statue. Moi, je buvais, crispé comme un extravagant, Dans son oeil, ciel livide où germe l'ouragan, La douceur qui fascine et le plaisir qui tue.Un éclair . . . puis la nuit! — Fugitive beauté Dont le regard m'a fait soudainement renaître, Ne te verrai-je plus que dans l'éternité?Ailleurs, bien loin d'ici! trop tard! jamais peut-être! Car j'ignore où tu fuis, tu ne sais où je vais, Ô toi que j'eusse aimée, ô toi qui le savais!” - Charles Baudelaire
17. “Love doesn't always mean rings and veils and walks down the aisle.Sometimes love means broken windows and broken hearts,and not being able to fix either. And sometimes love means telling you, there's no such thing as time in Heaven so don't rush to meet me. Stay a while, and pick, girl, the roses.” - Jennifer Gooch Hummer
18. “زهرة قطن نوفمبرسوسة القطن في طريقها، وبرد الشتاء،أضفى على سويقات القطن لون الصدأ، كمواسم فات أوانها،والقطن، شحيح كثلج جنوبي،الغصن يتهاوى؛ رخواً شديد الذبول،لا يصلح أن يكون مجرفة لأوراق الخريف؛التربة اجتاحها القحط مسبباً بانجرافهاجفاف كل مياه السواقي؛ طيورٌ ميتةٌ وجدت في الآبار على عمق مائة قدم تحت سطح الأرضو هذا هو الفصل الذي تفتحت فيه الزهرةالدهشة أصابت كبار القوم، وسرعان ما حلوا اللغزالخرافة رأت ما لم تره من قبل قط: عيون بنية وقعت في حبها دونما وجل،حُسْنٌ لا يخطر ببال أحد في مثل ذلك الوقت من السنة.Jean Toomer1894-1967” - Jean Toomer
19. “L'Heure ExquiseLa lune blancheLuit dans les bois ;De chaque branchePart une voixSous la ramée... Ô bien-aimée. L’étang reflète,Profond miroir,La silhouetteDu saule noirOù le vent pleure... Rêvons, c’est l’heure. Un vaste et tendreApaisementSemble descendreDu firmamentQue l’astre irise... C’est l’heure exquise.” - Paul Verlaine
20. “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” - Khalil Gibran
21. “There is bad in all good authors: what a pity the converse isn't true!” - Philip Larkin
22. “If water won't smother the blazeFather, take my tears and bestow them on the firesee if the fires will wither.” - Zakariya Amataya
23. “Love what is simple and beautiful. These are the essentials.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
24. “Vivo sempre no presente. O futuro, não o conheço. O passado, já o não tenho.” - Fernando Pessoa
25. “Poems are not often simply emotions butOne has enough emotions -- they're experienceExperience themselves are not important....” - Angela Suba Natarajan
26. “Gazing from the moon, we see one earth, without borders, Mother Earth, her embrace encircling one people, humankind.” - Frederick Glaysher
27. “We may know who we are or we may not. We may be Muslims, Jews or Christians but until our hearts become the mould for every heart we will see only our differences.” - Rumi
28. “The WeaverMy life is but a weavingbetween my Lord and me;I cannot choose the colorsHe worketh steadily.Oft times He weaveth sorrowAnd I, in foolish pride,Forget He sees the upper,And I the underside.Not til the loom is silentAnd the shuttles cease to fly,Shall God unroll the canvasAnd explain the reason why.The dark threads are as needfulIn the Weaver's skillful hand,As the threads of gold and silverIn the pattern He has planned.” - Benjamin Malachi Franklin
29. “Every poet will forever try to write the greatest poem ever written, I have found that this kind of poem can be written with “One” word. And that word consists of a beauty beyond any measure to man and one of the most beauty creations to grace the presents of man. That one word poem is…….. “YOU” - Michael Jones
30. “How to be a Poet (to remind myself)iMake a place to sit down. Sit down. Be quiet. You must depend upon affection, reading, knowledge, skill—more of each than you have—inspiration work, growing older, patience, for patience joins time to eternity… iiBreathe with unconditional breath the unconditioned air. Shun electric wire. Communicate slowly. Live a three-dimensional life; stay away from screens. Stay away from anything that obscures the place it is in. There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. iiiAccept what comes from silence. Make the best you can of it. Of the little words that come out of the silence, like prayers prayed back to the one who prays, make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came.” - Wendell Berry
31. “Poems are difficult to silence.” - Stephen Greenblatt
32. “poems are small moments of enlightenment” - Natalie Goldberg
33. “You should gofrom place to placerecovering the poemsthat have been written for youto which you can affix your signature.Don't discuss these matterswith anyone.Retrieve. Retrieve.When the basket is fullsomeone will appearto whom you can present it.” - Leonard Cohen
34. “Chúng ta đã nhiều lần chết đi dù vẫn đang tồn tại giữa bao ngườikhi nhìn thấy nhau nhưng không cách nào bước tớikhi lướt qua nhau và nghe rõ nhịp tim của người kia đau nhóikhi rời xa nhau mà ngay cả ánh mắt cũng không bước đi nổixót xa nào hơn…” - Nguyễn Phong Việt
35. “Poetry is prose bewitched, a music made of visual thoughts, the sound of an idea.” - Mina Loy
36. “All is as if the world did cease to exist. The city's monuments go unseen, its past unheard, and its culture slowly fading in the dismal sea.” - Nathan Reese Maher
37. “I can’t help but ask, “Do you know where you are?”She turns to me with a foreboding glare. “Do you?” - Nathan Reese Maher
38. “Call me crazy, but there is something terribly wrong with this city.” - Nathan Reese Maher
39. “There is a stillness between us, a period of restlessness that ties my stomachin a hangman’s noose. It is this same lack in noise that lives, there! in thedarkness of the grave, how it frightens me beyond all things.” - Nathan Reese Maher
40. “History doesn’t start with a tall buildingand a card with your name written on it, but jokes do. I think someone is takingus for suckers and is playing a mean game.” - Nathan Reese Maher
41. “I wanted to write the most beautiful poem but that is impossible; the world has written its own.” - Dejan Stojnaovic
42. “هذا صباحُ جميلْالشمسُ ضاحكةٌ، كفسْتانِ أنْثى.وثمةَمُوسيقىتنزلُالسّلالمْ.وعند الكُشُكْ..صحُفٌ، ومجلاّتٌ، وهاتفُ عُمْلَةْ.” - علي منصور
43. “...gripping the rim of the sink you claw your way to stand and cling there, quaking with will, on heron legs, and still the hot muck pours out of you. (p. 27)” - Barbara Blatner
44. “oh. she heard it too-no waters coursing, canyon empty, sun soundless- and the beast your life nowhere hiding (p. 103)” - Barbara Blatner
45. “To write good poems is the secret of brevity.” - Dejan Stojanovic
46. “One hand I extend into myself, the other toward others.” - Dejan Stojanovic
47. “I recreate myself; that is my only power.” - Dejan Stojanovic
48. “I enjoy it when the world smiles; the more smiles, the warmer I am.” - Dejan Stojanovic
49. “I lose faith in mathematics, logical and rigid. What with those that even zero doesn’t accept?” - Dejan Stojanovic
50. “In the biggest and the smallest I sleep but at the same place I stay.” - Dejan Stojanovic
51. “In a myriad of ways you tell one truth.” - Dejan Stojanovic
52. “While gazing at myself from yourself, I was beautiful.” - Dejan Stojanovic
53. “Nothing is made, nothing disappears. The same changes, at the same places, never stopping.” - Dejan Stojanovic
54. “I have been so very, very fortunate in my life. I've met or been in contact with several of my childhood heroes. I've interacted with people all over this planet, and even though I couldn't possibly hope to remember all their names, I remember a photograph, a poem, a sound, a joke, kind words of encouragement. All is not lost.” - Wayne Gerard Trotman
55. “...some of the best love poems have been written by monks and nuns...” - John Geddes
56. “La PucePuces, amis, amantes même,Qu'ils sont cruels ceux qui nous aiment!Tout notre sang coule pour eux.Les bien-aimés sont malheureux.” - Guillaume Apollinaire
57. “La Courbe de tes yeuxLa courbe de tes yeux fait le tour de mon coeur,Un rond de danse et de douceur,Auréole du temps, berceau nocturne et sûr,Et si je ne sais plus tout ce que j'ai vécuC'est que tes yeux ne m'ont pas toujours vu.Feuilles de jour et mousse de rosée,Roseaux du vent, sourires parfumés,Ailes couvrant le monde de lumière,Bateaux chargés du ciel et de la mer,Chasseurs des bruits et sources des couleurs,Parfums éclos d'une couvée d'auroresQui gît toujours sur la paille des astres,Comme le jour dépend de l'innocenceLe monde entier dépend de tes yeux pursEt tout mon sang coule dans leurs regards.” - Paul Eluard
58. “La terre est bleueLa terre est bleue comme une orangeJamais une erreur les mots ne mentent pasIls ne vous donnent plus à chanterAu tour des baisers de s’entendreLes fous et les amoursElle sa bouche d’allianceTous les secrets tous les souriresEt quels vêtements d’indulgenceÀ la croire toute nue.Les guêpes fleurissent vertL’aube se passe autour du couUn collier de fenêtresDes ailes couvrent les feuillesTu as toutes les joies solairesTout le soleil sur la terreSur les chemins de ta beauté.” - Paul Eluard
59. “The rat isthe mous-tacheinthetrache.the wrong-doerinthesoer.” - J. Patrick Lewis
60. “The poems are all wrong. It's a bang, a really big bang. Not a whimper. And sometimes gold can stay.” - Kami Garcia
61. “[poems are] crystals deposited after the effervescent contact of the spirit with reality.(cristaux deposes apres l'effervescent contact de l'esprit avec la realite)” - Pierre Reverdy
62. “Humans will never be in charge of this world, as long as dust and weeds do as they please.” - Nancy B. Brewer
63. “You leave behind your fine poems.You leave behind your beautiful flowers. And the earth that was only leant to you. You ascend into the Light, O Quechomitl, you leave behind the flowers and the singing and the earth. Safe journey, O friend.” - Aliette de Bodard
64. “After a RetreatWhat hast thou learnt today?Hast thou sounded awful mysteries,Hast pierced the veiled skies,Climbed to the feet of God,Trodden where saints have trod, Fathomed the heights above?Nay,This only have I learnt, that God is love. What hast thou heard today?Hast heard the Angel-trumpets cry,And rippling harps reply;Heard from the Throne of flameWhence God incarnate cameSome thund'rous message roll?Nay, This have I heard, His voice within my soul. What hast thou felt today?The pinions of the Angel guideThat standeth at thy sideIn rapturous ardours beatGlowing, from head to feet,In ecstasy divine?Nay, This only have felt, Christ's hand in mine.” - Robert Hugh Benson
65. “When one does not die for the other, then we are already dead_” - Tasos Livaditis
