Joyce Kilmer

“ But there is a higher truth and a lower truth, and it is the higher truth that is the proper subject of poetry.
"The terrible and the tragic are legitimate subjects for poetic treatment, but the disgusting is not. There is no true poetry that is not dedicated to the soul and to joy.
"A gifted reader can bring tears to the eyes of almost any one by repeating certain poetry. And the tears will be brought by the beauty of the things repeated. People are not really moved by what is ugly. Ugliness in poetry they may find clever and interesting. ”

“ In architecture and sculpture there can be nothing new, and this is true of all the arts, and especially of poetry.
"Maeterlinck says that compared with ordinary truths mystic truths have strange privileges—they can neither age nor die. Beauty is eternal and ugliness, thank God, is ephemeral. ”

“ There is a man who is constantly growing because of his love for big things—things like the restless and tremendous sea. His love for great things has stretched his soul. His realization of great ships and great spaces and great deeds has enlarged his vision as a poet's vision should be enlarged. ”

“ This apparent sudden popularity of poetry, indicated by the existence of many little magazines of verse and by large sales of books of verse sensational in character, does not mean that there is a renascence of poetry. The atmosphere of poetry today seems strained and unnatural. There is an attempt to force the growth of poetry. ”

“ Now, poetry that endures is not produced by writers who have this attitude toward life. Of course in the great masters of literature you will find occasional lapses of taste, occasional instances of ugliness. ”

“ They found that disease and ugliness attracted attention more quickly than health and beauty.
"Some of the poets seem to think that to find truth it is necessary to go far down in humanity. And they think that the truth they find there is the only truth. ”

“ You know that it has been said 'When you want to read a new book, read an old one.' To a certain extent I think this is good advice so far as poetry is concerned. But I don't want to seem too censorious about contemporary poets. We have many gifted and conscientious artists for whose work we may well be grateful. ”