Poetry Has Been The Longest Pleasure Of

When People Say Of Their Tragedies, 'i Don't Often Think Of It Now,' What They Mean Is It Has Entered Permanently Into Their Thoughts, And Colors Everything.

Poetry Has Been The Longest Pleasure Of My Life.

A Poet Or Novelist Will Invent Interruptions To Avoid Long Consecutive Days At The Ordained Page; And Of These The Most Pernicious Are Other Kinds Of Writing -- Articles, Lectures, Reviews, A Wide Correspondence.

In The Circle Where I Was Raised, I Knew Of No One Knowledgeable In The Visual Arts, No One Who Regularly Attended Musical Performances, And Only Two Adults Other Than My Teachers Who Spoke Without Embarrassment Of Poetry And Literature — Both Of These Being Women. As Far As I Can Recall, I Never Heard A Man Refer To A Good Or A Great Book. I Knew No One Who Had Mastered, Or Even Studied, Another Language From Choice. And Our Articulate, Conscious Life Proceeded Without Acknowledgement Of The Preceding Civilisations Which Had Produced It.

I Never Had, Or Wished For, Power Over You. That Isn't True, Of Course. I Wanted The Greatest Power Of All. But Not Advantage, Or Authority.