For some reason most critics have a hard time fixing their minds directly under their noses, and before they see the object that is there they use a telescope upon the horizon to see where it came from.

Quote by Allen Tate

Topics: Allen Tate Quotes

Serious poetry deals with the fundamental conflicts that cannot be logically resolved: we can state...

Serious poetry deals with the fundamental conflicts that cannot be logically resolved: we can state...

A poem may be an instance of morality, of social conditions, of psychological history; it...

A poem may be an instance of morality, of social conditions, of psychological history; it...

So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a...

So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a...

I believe the term modulation denotes in music the uninterrupted shift from one key to...

I believe the term modulation denotes in music the uninterrupted shift from one key to...

I am not ridiculing verbal mechanisms, dreams, or repressions as origins of poetry; all three...

I am not ridiculing verbal mechanisms, dreams, or repressions as origins of poetry; all three...

Other psychological theories say a good deal about compensation.

Other psychological theories say a good deal about compensation.

How does one happen to write a poem: where does it come from? That is...

How does one happen to write a poem: where does it come from? That is...

In a manner of speaking, the poem is its own knower, neither poet nor reader...

In a manner of speaking, the poem is its own knower, neither poet nor reader...

What is the poem, after it is written? That is the question. Not where it...

What is the poem, after it is written? That is the question. Not where it...

Religion is the sole technique for the validating of values.

Religion is the sole technique for the validating of values.

Experience means conflict, our natures being what they are, and conflict means drama.

Experience means conflict, our natures being what they are, and conflict means drama.

At twelve I was determined to shoot only For honor; at twenty not to shoot...

At twelve I was determined to shoot only For honor; at twenty not to shoot...

The Spring I seek is in a new face only.

The Spring I seek is in a new face only.

The innocent mansion of a panther's heart!

The innocent mansion of a panther's heart!

The only real evidence that any critic may bring before his gaze is the finished...

The only real evidence that any critic may bring before his gaze is the finished...

Poets, in their way, are practical men; they are interested in results.

Poets, in their way, are practical men; they are interested in results.

Genetic theories, I gather, have been cherished academically with detachment.

Genetic theories, I gather, have been cherished academically with detachment.

Men expect too much, do too little.

Men expect too much, do too little.

The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know

The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know

Few of the many wise apothegms which have been uttered have prevented a single foolish...

Few of the many wise apothegms which have been uttered have prevented a single foolish...