"

that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith

"

Works of imagination should be written in very plain language the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain.

"

Sir, I admit your general rule, That every poet is a fool, But you yourself may serve to show it, That every fool is not a poet.

"

No man was ever yet a great poet, without at the same time being a profound philosopher.

"

Language is the armoury of the human mind and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests.

"

I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry that is prose - words in their best order poetry - the best ...more

"

In poems, equally as in philosophic disquisitions, genius produces the strongest impressions of novelty while it rescues the most admitted truths from...more

"

The one red leaf, the last of its clan,That dances as often as dance it can,Hanging so light, and hanging so high,On the topmost twig that looks up at...more

"

Then all the charm Is broken--all that phantom-world so fair Vanishes, and a thousand circlets spread, And each mis-shape the other.

"

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.

"

A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

"

Where true Love burns Desire is Love's pure flame;It is the reflex of our earthly frame,That takes its meaning from the nobler part,And but translates...more

"

To be loved is all I need, And whom I love, I love indeed.

"

In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree:Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.

"

But yester-night I prayed aloud In anguish and in agony, Up-starting from the fiendish crowd Of shapes and thoughts that tortured me: A lurid light, a...more