A poet feels the impulse to create a work of art when the passive awe provoked by an event is transformed into a desire to express that awe in a rite of worship.
W. H. AudenI don't think the mystical experience can be verbalized. When the ego disappears, so does power over language.
W. H. AudenEvery man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.
W. H. AudenOur researchers into Public Opinion are content That he held the proper opinions for the time of year; When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went. He was married and added five children to the population, Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation, And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education. Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had everything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
W. H. Auden