“Every poem is a momentary stay against the confusion of the world.”

“The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom... in a clarification of life - not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion. ”

“THE FIGURE A POEM MAKESNo one can really hold that ecstasy should be static and stand still in one place. It begins in delight, it inclines to the impulse, it assumes direction with the first line laid down, it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life- Not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion.”

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat”

“A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom. ”

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”

“I'm not confused. I'm just well mixed.”