Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.

Quote by Charles Simic

Topics: Poetry Quotes

Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.

Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making...

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making...

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making...

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making...

Every sin is the result of collaboration.

Every sin is the result of collaboration.

A poet is a bird of unearthly excellence, who escapes from his celestial realm arrives...

A poet is a bird of unearthly excellence, who escapes from his celestial realm arrives...

The crown of literature is poetry.

The crown of literature is poetry.

To be a poet is to place pleasure, beauty and sensual delights front and centre,...

To be a poet is to place pleasure, beauty and sensual delights front and centre,...

When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows...

When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows...

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the...

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the...

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is...

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is...

Shall Life renew these bodies? Of a truth All death will he annul, all tears...

Shall Life renew these bodies? Of a truth All death will he annul, all tears...

All of the arts, poetry, music, ritual, the visible arts, the theater, must singly and...

All of the arts, poetry, music, ritual, the visible arts, the theater, must singly and...

To feel greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the natural Beauty, is the sole...

To feel greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the natural Beauty, is the sole...

I don't expect you'll hear me writing any poems to the greater glory of Ronald...

I don't expect you'll hear me writing any poems to the greater glory of Ronald...

We [poets] set men free from their desires.

We [poets] set men free from their desires.

The poetry of the earth is never dead.

The poetry of the earth is never dead.

For what is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding: it is the deepest...

For what is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding: it is the deepest...

The poet ranks far below the painter in the representation of visible things, and far...

The poet ranks far below the painter in the representation of visible things, and far...

Before people complain of the obscurity of modern poetry, they should first examine their consciences...

Before people complain of the obscurity of modern poetry, they should first examine their consciences...