In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

It has been said that a poem should not mean but be. This is not quite accurate. In a poem, as distinct from many other kinds of verbal societies, meaning and being are identical. A poem might be called a pseudo-person. Like a person, it is unique and addresses the reader personally. On the other hand, like a natural being and unlike a historical person, it cannot lie.

No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted.

The closest modern equivalent to the Homeric hero is the ace fighter pilot.

If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It will get away with anything, while age Knows only too well that it has got away with nothing.

The older lives like not to be stood in rows or at right angles.

Desire, even in its wildest tantrums, can neither persuade me it is love nor stop me from wishing it were.