“I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty.”

“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.”

“To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary.”

“With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.”

“All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.”

“Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry; music, without the idea, is simply music; the idea, without the music, is prose, from its very definitiveness.”

“With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions should be held in reverence: they must not — they cannot at will be excited, with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations, of mankind.”