What is the poem, after it is written? That is the question. Not where it came from or why.

Quote by Allen Tate

Topics: Allen Tate Quotes

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,...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

For some reason most critics have a hard time fixing their minds directly under their...

For some reason most critics have a hard time fixing their minds directly under their...

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.

Men expect too much, do too little.

Men expect too much, do too little.

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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!

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.

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...

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...