It hardly seems worthwhile to point out the shortsightedness of those practitioners who would have us believe that the form of the poem is merely its shape. Mark Strand Read Quote
A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art. Mark Strand Read Quote
And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem. Mark Strand Read Quote
But I tend to think of the expressive part of me as rather tedious – never curious or responsive, but blind and self-serving. Mark Strand Read Quote
I believe that all poetry is formal in that it exists within limits, limits that are either inherited by tradition or limits that language itself imposes. Mark Strand Read Quote
I certainly can’t speak for all cultures or all societies, but it’s clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It’s not part of the cultural mainstream. Mark Strand Read Quote
I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony. Mark Strand Read Quote
