The Nature of Poetry

"Poetry is very difficult to define; no single statement can describe it completely. The best anyone can do is to make a series of statements that point the way to an understanding of the nature of poetry and then to offer some poems that will illustrate the statements. Even though we many not be able to define poetry, we can learn to recognize it and to respond to it in its various forms."

FROM: Adventures in Poetry: An Introduction and a Collection by Edwin C. Custer; Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc. (1964)