I dislike literary jargon and never use it. Criticism has only one function and that is to help readers read and understand literature. It is not a science, it is an aid to art.

Each word bears its weight, so you have to read my poems quite slowly.

Blackbirds are the cellos of the deep farms.

The sea is as near as we come to another world.

A poem might be defined as thinking about feelings - about human feelings and frailties.

I married a young Englishman in Cambridge in 1955 and have lived in Britain every since.

There's no friend like someone who has known you since you were five.

There is far too much literary criticism of the wrong kind. That is why I never could have survived as an academic.

Poets should ignore most criticism and get on with making poetry.

Yes, I do often write poems from the mind, but I hope I don't ignore feelings and emotions.

I like rhyme because it is memorable, I like form because having to work to a pattern gives me original ideas.

Home can be the Pennsylvania TurnpikeIndiana's early morning dewHigh up in the hills of CaliforniaHome is just another word for you

Mrs. Cole was a perfect democrat. She hated all kids equally.

For two decades the state has been taking liberties and these liberties were once ours.

Flesh eating is unprovoked murder.

What adults call 'wrong' in Child Art is the most beautiful and most precious. I value highly those things done by small children. They are the first and purest source of artistic creation.

I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves.

The problem with politics isn't the money; it's the power.

I recently formed a foundation to raise awareness for prostate cancer. I feel it's very necessary that men be more aware about prostate cancer and their health in general.

True knowledge never shuts the door on more knowledge, but zeal often does.

There is no photograph more inherently photographic than another.