Any time something is written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself. Perhaps I should advise would-be enemies to send me their grievances beforehand, with full assurance that they will receive my every aid and support. I have even secretly longed to write, under a pen name, a merciless tirade against myself. Autobiographical essay 1970 Truly fine poetry must be read aloud. A good poem does not allow itself to be read in a low voice or silently.
Poetry always remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art.
It remembers that it was first song. The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . . Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book. We feel poetry as we feel the closeness of a woman, or as we feel a mountain or a bay. There are people who barely feel poetry, and they are generally dedicated to teaching it.