Poets on Poetry: MARY ANN HOBERMAN

In celebration of National Poetry Month, I will be sharing in each post during April a favorite quote from a favorite poet on poetry. Enjoy!

"Well, you’re asking what poetry is, and there have been so many definitions. . . . To me, it’s a recreation, a renewal of language. . . . The subtlety of what words mean and the fact that you write something and all of a sudden you’ll realize that 'yes, it reaches out. It meant that, too.' Then all of a sudden you’ll get a rhyme and the rhyme will throw up a whole new way of looking at things. It’s this relationship that you never dreamed of. A poem really does recreate the language, and that’s what it has to do. A true poem, I think, has to give you that shiver. That, 'yes, it’s never been said quite that way before.'” - Mary Ann Hoberman

Complete interview at Teaching Books. (emphasis mine.)