A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

When I am in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who...

When I am in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who...

I know nothing, except what everyone knows if there when Graces dances, I should dance.

I know nothing, except what everyone knows if there when Graces dances, I should dance.

Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so...

Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so...

Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has...

Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has...

I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street Uncertain and afraid As the...

I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street Uncertain and afraid As the...

You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people...

You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people...

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too...

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too...

In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of...

In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of...

In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be...

In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be...

Art is born of humiliation.

Art is born of humiliation.

One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out...

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out...

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his...

Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his...

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.

Let mortals beware of words For with words we lie Can speak peace When we...

Let mortals beware of words For with words we lie Can speak peace When we...

We must love one another or die.

We must love one another or die.

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

A poet can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man...

A poet can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man...

The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind.

The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind.