The Writing Of A Poem Is Like

For Poets Today Or In Any Age, The Choice Is Not Between Freedom On The One Hand And Abstruse French Forms On The Other. The Choice Is Between The Nullity And Vanity Of Our First Efforts, And The Developing Of A Sense Of Idiom, Form, Structure, Metre, Rhythm, Line - All The Fundamental Characteristics Of This Verbal Art.

Windbags Can Be Right. Aphorists Can Be Wrong. It Is A Tough World.

Nobody Really Knows Whether They Are A Poet. I Knew I Was Interested From The Age Of 15.

At Somewhere Around 10 Syllables, The English Poetic Line Is At Its Most Relaxed And Manageable.

Among Those Today Who Believe That Modern Poetry Must Do Without Rhyme Or Metre, There Is An Assumption That The Alternative To Free Verse Is A Crash Course In Villanelles, Sestinas And Other Such Fixed Forms. But Most... Are Rare In English Poetry. Few Poets Have Written A Villanelle Worth Reading, Or Indeed Regret Not Having Done So.