I take as metaphysical poetry that in which what is ordinarily apprehensible only by thought is brought within the grasp of feeling, or that in which what is ordinarily only felt is transformed into thought without ceasing to be feeling.

Quote by TS Eliot

Topics: Poetry Quotes

Fear is the tax which conscience pays to guilt

Fear is the tax which conscience pays to guilt

The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong...

The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong...

Webster was much possessed by death / And saw the skull beneath the skin.

Webster was much possessed by death / And saw the skull beneath the skin.

To approach the stranger is to invite the unexpected, release a new force, let the...

To approach the stranger is to invite the unexpected, release a new force, let the...

Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.

Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.

A tradition without intelligence is not worth having.

A tradition without intelligence is not worth having.

The awful daring of a moment's surrender which an age of prudence can never retract.

The awful daring of a moment's surrender which an age of prudence can never retract.

Any poet, if he is to survive beyond his 25th year, must alter; he must...

Any poet, if he is to survive beyond his 25th year, must alter; he must...

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

Hell is oneself, Hell is alone, the other figures in it merely projections.

Hell is oneself, Hell is alone, the other figures in it merely projections.

Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing...

Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing...

My own experience and development deepen everyday my conviction that our moral progress may be...

My own experience and development deepen everyday my conviction that our moral progress may be...

What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?

What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?

I am an Anglo-Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature and a royalist in politics.

I am an Anglo-Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature and a royalist in politics.

There is nothing that will kill a man so soon as having nobody to find...

There is nothing that will kill a man so soon as having nobody to find...

What makes life dreary is the want of a motive.

What makes life dreary is the want of a motive.

Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.

Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.

A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and...

A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and...

I never did say that you can't be a nice guy and win. I said...

I never did say that you can't be a nice guy and win. I said...

I'm not suggesting that the play is without fault; all of my plays are imperfect,...

I'm not suggesting that the play is without fault; all of my plays are imperfect,...