The best books of our times have included the three mature volumes of Philip Larkin. They're very short books of poems, and very carefully arranged.

I have taught students from the New York City area so long I have a special affinity and rapport with them. It surprises me sometimes that there are students from anywhere else.

What actually makes poetry poetry is of course impossible to define. We recognize it when we hear it, when we see it, but we can't define it.

The fact that something is in a rhymed form or in blank verse will not make it good poetry.

Poetry, almost by definition, calls attention to its language and form.

One of the most powerful devices of poetry is the use of distortions. You can go from talking about the way a minute passes to the way a century passes, or a lifetime.

I don't think poetry is something that can be taught. We can encourage young writers, but what you can't teach them is the very essence of poetry.