William Hazlitt: "Poetry dwells in a perpetual utopia of its own." (*)
Philip Larkin: "Envoi"
The question of poetry, of course,
Is difficult: some say a poet should
Mix with his fellows, be a social force;
Others say he should be simply good;
Others, that he should be a communist;
Perhaps a scholar, even drive a van;
Or spend his waking hours in being kissed;
Or all these, and become a Complete man.
//
Myself, I think that poetry is merely
The Ego's protest at the world's contempt,
And that there are no normal poets, really.
Therefore, if as tonight, dear, he should move
In motions of spending and the acts of love,
He has lived his poem; all his power is spent. (*)
Charles Simic: A poem is like a girl at a party who gets to kiss everybody. No, a poem
is a secret shared by people who have never met each other. Compared to
the other arts, poets spend most of their time scratching their heads in
the dark. That’s why the travel they prefer is going to the kitchen to
see if there is any baked ham and cold beer left in the fridge. (*)
John Steinbeck: Tom wrote secret poetry,
and in those days it was only sensible to keep it secret. The poets
were pale emasculates, and Western men held them in contempt. Poetry was
a symptom of weakness, of degeneracy and decay. To read it was to court
catcalls. To write it was to be suspected and ostracised. Poetry was a
secret vice, and properly so. (*)
