The inmost spirit of poetry, in other words, is at bottom, in every recorded case, the voice of pain – and the physical body, so to speak, of poetry, is the treatment by which the poet tries to reconcile that pain with the world.
Ted HughesThe world's decay where the wind's hands have passed, And my head, worn out with love, at rest In my hands, and my hands full of dust.
Ted HughesSo we found the end of our journey. So we stood, alive in the river of light, Among the creatures of light, creatures of light.
Ted HughesAnd that's how we measure out our real respect for people—by the degree of feeling they can register, the voltage of life they can carry and tolerate—and enjoy. End of sermon. As Buddha says: live like a mighty river. And as the old Greeks said: live as though all your ancestors were living again through you.
Ted Hughes