ON THE POET’S VISION

“The poet really does see the world differently, and everything in it. He does not deliberately go into training to sharpen his senses; he is a poet because his senses are naturally open and vitally sensitive. But what the poet sees with his always new vision is not what is ‘imaginary’; he sees what others have forgotten how to see. The poet is always inadvertently stripping away the veils and showing us his reality. Many poets, as we know, go mad because they cannot bear the worlds of illusion and falsehood in which most human beings spend their lives.” (Karl Shapiro)

“You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you.” (Joubert)

“Science is for those who learn; poetry, for those who know.” (Roux)