Poetry is the fiery index to the genius of the age.

Poetry is important. No less than science, it seeks a hold upon reality, and the closeness of its approach is the test of its success.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Important Poetry Reality
History Coming too close Is monstrous, like a doll That is alive and bigger than the child Who tries to hold it.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Children History Trying
Who, except the poets, reads poetry?
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Poet Poetry Read
There is no end to grief. Nor no end to poetry.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Ends Grief Poetry
The poet, like the lover, is a person unable to reconcile what he knows with what he feels. His peculiarity is that he is under a certain compulsion to do so.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Certain Lovers Poet
How to sustain the miracle Of being, that like a muted bell, Or like some ocean-breathing shell, Quivers, intense and still?
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Breathing Miracle Ocean
Poetry is the fiery index to the genius of the age.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Age Genius Poetry
The poet who speaks out of the deepest instincts of man will be heard. The poet who creates a myth beyond the power of man to realize is gagged at the peril of the group that binds him. He is the true revolutionary: he builds a new world.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Men Out Poetry Speaks
Music proposes. Sound disposes.
BABETTE DEUTSCH

Music Musician Sound

More Babette Deutsch Quotes