“Poetry, almost by definition, calls attention to its language and form.”
Tip: press → for another quote, C to copy, S to share.
One of the most powerful devices of poetry is the use of distortions. You can go from talking about the way a minute passes to the way a century passes, or a lifetime.
If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable.
Pound's translation of Chinese poetry was maybe the most important thing I read. Eliot a little bit later.
What actually makes poetry poetry is of course impossible to define. We recognize it when we hear it, when we see it, but we can't define it.
