Quotable Poetry Quotes

"Poetry is probably the only form of reading one can most appreciate without fully understanding the words. Poetry works on rhythm and sound as much as on word knowledge.. [making] it safe for struggling readers."

-Joanne Durham, teacher

"Even beginning readers can know if a poem appeals to them...because it enables them to see things in ways they've never seen before. For example: since I read James Reeves' poem about the snail as a 'toppling caravan,' I've never been able to look at snails the same way... The poet's job, you see, is not to give us straight encyclopedic fact but to tell us something new or to tell something old in a new way--to give us fresh images."

- Myra Cohn Livingston, Poet

[On methodology for introducing young people to the wonders of verse]"I put it in two words: Read aloud. Not just when they are small, I still read aloud to my three daughters, who are 20 to 30 years old."

- Robert Pinsky, Poet Laureate

"Bringing children and poetry together can be one of the most exciting experiences in parenting or teaching. Over the years, however, I have noted in too many cases what I have coined the DAM approach--Dissecting, Analyzing, and meaninglessly Memorizing poetry to death."

-Lee Bennett Hopkins,Pass the Poetry, Please

"Poetry is the kind of thing you have to see from the corner of your eye...For a poem is not the end, but the beginning, of an excursion. Back and forth we go--scenes, impressions, ideas. All sorts of quick glimpses are quickly dismissed as random or uninteresting, but some lead richly onward."

-William Stafford Writing the Australian Crawl

[On hearing a reading of Tennyson] "I didn't know something with just words could sound so good!" -David, 4th grader

"Poetry, like rain,should fall with elemental music...poetry for children should keep reminding them ... that the English language is a most marvelous and availing instrument."

-David McCord, Poet

"a good poem contains both meaning and music."

-Eve Merriam, Poet

"I think I discovered poetry only a year ago. I never really understood poetry or had the patience for it. I wasn't aware of the fact, as much as I am now, that it's a different language.

-Leo Lionni, Author (age 87)

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