“Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting.”

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat”

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

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

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

“A poem is never a put-up job, so to speak. It begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. It is never a thought to begin with.”

“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. ”