I can't tell you where a poem comes from, what it is, or what it is for: nor can any other man. The reason I can't tell you is that the purpose of a poem is to go past telling,…

Quote by A R Ammons

Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience.

Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience.

That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if...

That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if...

In nature there are few sharp lines.

In nature there are few sharp lines.

The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all...

The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all...

Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful.

Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful.

If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we...

If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we...

I am grateful for - though I can't keep up with - the flood of...

I am grateful for - though I can't keep up with - the flood of...

If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague...

If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague...

Each poem in becoming generates the laws by which it is generated: extensions of the...

Each poem in becoming generates the laws by which it is generated: extensions of the...

Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank...

Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank...

Once every five hundred years or so, a summary statement about poetry comes along that...

Once every five hundred years or so, a summary statement about poetry comes along that...

Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars...

Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars...

Besides the actual reading in class of many poems, I would suggest you do two...

Besides the actual reading in class of many poems, I would suggest you do two...

There's something to be said in favor of working in isolation in the real world.

There's something to be said in favor of working in isolation in the real world.

Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more...

Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more...

You have your identity when you find out, not what you can keep your mind...

You have your identity when you find out, not what you can keep your mind...

If a poem is each time new, then it is necessarily an act of discovery,...

If a poem is each time new, then it is necessarily an act of discovery,...