For while the subjects of poetry are few and recurrent, the moods of man are infinitely various and unstable. It is the same in all arts.

If it is an imperfect word, no external circumstance can heighten its value as poetry.

The poet's perfect expression is the token of a perfect experience; what he says in the best possible way he has felt in the best possible way, that is, completely.

To take an analogy: if we say that a democratic government is the best kind of government, we mean that it most completely fulfills the highest function of a government - the realisation of the will of the people.

When the poet makes his perfect selection of a word, he is endowing the word with life.

To know anything of a poet but his poetry is, so far as the poetry is concerned, to know something that may be entertaining, even delightful, but is certainly inessential.

For while the subjects of poetry are few and recurrent, the moods of man are infinitely various and unstable. It is the same in all arts.