Florence Earle Coates: Poetry

“Poetry belongs to the real things—to the realm of the ideal which is "the only real."”

“Ugliness in poetry they may find clever and interesting. But it is only beauty that "snatches the breath and fills the eyes with tears."”

“In education poetry is invaluable; the study of it cultivates the memory, the imagination, and the heart.”

“poetry, which is the voice of the soul's aspirations, has for it, of all the arts, the most natural and immediate appeal.”

“poetry in some form is necessary to all—save, perhaps, to those who are content to live upon bread alone.”

“poetry needed no renascence. It was not young, it is not old.”

“There is no true poetry that is not dedicated to the soul and to joy.”

“there is a higher truth and a lower truth, and it is the higher truth that is the proper subject of poetry.”

“Existence has little repose, and the cultivation and love of poetry require a detached spirit and a certain amount of leisure.”

“Of all the arts poetry is the most intimate and personal.”

“The future of poetry should be, must be, in the hearts of children, lifting them above mean desires and helping them to believe, with Socrates, that they who have the fewest wants are nearest to the gods.”

“Many modern poets seem to think that poetry should be sensual. It should not—it should be sensuous.”

“The atmosphere of poetry today seems strained and unnatural. There is an attempt to force the growth of poetry.”