So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of his predicament that are interesting even to other persons because nobody is a perfect automobile salesman.

Quote by Allen Tate

Topics: Allen Tate Quotes

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...

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...

Narcissism and the Confederate dead cannot be connected logically, or even historically; even were the...

Narcissism and the Confederate dead cannot be connected logically, or even historically; even were the...

But in our age the appeal to authority is weak, and I am of my...

But in our age the appeal to authority is weak, and I am of my...

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

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

According to its doctors, my one intransigent desire is to have been a Confederate general,...

According to its doctors, my one intransigent desire is to have been a Confederate general,...

Other psychological theories say a good deal about compensation.

Other psychological theories say a good deal about compensation.

We know the particular poem, not what it says that we can restate.

We know the particular poem, not what it says that we can restate.

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...

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...

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.

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...

The mission for the day is to encourage students to think beyond traditional career opportunities,...

The mission for the day is to encourage students to think beyond traditional career opportunities,...

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

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

Dramatic experience is not logical; it may be subdued to the kind of coherence that...

Dramatic experience is not logical; it may be subdued to the kind of coherence that...

The Spring I seek is in a new face only.

The Spring I seek is in a new face only.

Religion is the sole technique for the validating of values.

Religion is the sole technique for the validating of values.

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...

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...

The innocent mansion of a panther's heart!

The innocent mansion of a panther's heart!