Poetry: The Best Words In The Best

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 Words In The Best Order.

Trochee Trips From Long To Short; From Long To Long In Solemn Sort Slow Spondee Stalks.

A Savage Place! As Holy And Enchanted/as E'er Beneath The Waning Moon Was Haunted/by Woman Wailing For Her Demon Lover!

It Has Been Observed Before That Images, However Beautiful, Though Faithfully Copied From Nature, And As Accurately Represented In Words, Do Not Of Themselves Characterize The Poet. They Become Proofs Of Original Genius Only As Far As They Are Modified By A Predominant Passion; Or By Associated Thoughts Or Images Awakened By That Passion; Or When They Have The Effect Of Reducing Multitude To Unity, Or Succession To An Instant; Or Lastly, When A Human And Intellectual Life Is Transferred To Them From The Poet's Spirit.

Remorse Is As The Heart In Which It Grows; If That Be Gentle, It Drops Balmy Dews Of True Repentance; But If Proud And Gloomy, It Is The Poison Tree, That Pierced To The Inmost, Weeps Only Tears Of Poison.