And when you are entering into poetry, whatever stage you're at, you are participating in something with a very long and noble tradition.

But, that was the beginning, though I didn't start writing until I was in high school and when I was in high school I really began to write poetry with great energy and enthusiasm.

The way to become a poet is to read poetry and to imitate what you read and to read passionately and widely and in as involved a way as you can.

The poets needed to learn to pay greater attention to character and to narrative.

One, something emotional has to be at stake. There has to be something important for me that I'm writing about. And then two, I have to have a formal idea. Something has to be being worked out in poetry.

I would keep in mind to a young poet that you are entering into something that is very important, that has always been important in terms of human concerns.

A great model for this is the way that Dante calls on Virgil at the beginning of 'The Inferno,' 'The Divine Comedy,' to help guide him through the underworld.