World Poetry Day: The Best Quotes on Poetry from Great Poets to Uplift Your Day

Celebrate World Poetry Day with timeless words from great poets—where emotions find rhythm, thoughts take flight, and verses unveil the beauty of the world.

Wordsworth describes poetry as the "spontaneous overflow of emotions." Since its inception, poetry has served as a medium for expression, entertainment, and education. It resonates with our shared humanity and values, turning even the simplest verses into a powerful force for dialogue and peace. In 1999, during its 30th General Conference in Paris, UNESCO designated March 21 as World Poetry Day to celebrate linguistic diversity through poetic expression and amplify the voices of endangered languages. This day is an opportunity to honor poets, revive the oral tradition of poetry recitals, and encourage the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry. Let’s explore some of the most inspiring quotes on what exactly poetry is, from great poets that connect us through verse.

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.” — Robert Frost

According to Frost, poetry is deeply connected to physical sensation. It emerges from an unsettling experience, compelling one to express their emotions. Rooted in profound feelings—grief, injustice, longing, or love—poetry transforms personal experiences into powerful and evocative verse.

“Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” — Allen Ginsberg

This quote highlights poetry’s role as an authentic, personal expression rather than a tool for ideological conformity. It reflects deep, personal thoughts, turning private emotions into shared experiences, as poets express their genuine feelings, making the intimate universally relatable and impactful.The phrase “that time of night” evokes a sense of vulnerability and honesty, reinforcing the idea that poetry is born from genuine contemplation rather than external influences or societal expectations.

“Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art.” — Thomas Hardy

Hardy suggests that writing poetry is an inherently emotional process that cannot be strictly confined by structure. However, he emphasizes that the craft of writing can be learned, allowing raw emotions to be shaped into refined and impactful verse.

“Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley

Have you ever experienced a sense of illumination while reading a poem? Shelley describes this as lifting the veil from the "hidden beauty of the world." Poetry uncovers unnoticed beauty in everyday life. It reawakens perception, allowing readers to see the familiar with fresh wonder, unveiling deeper meanings hidden beneath the surface of reality.

“I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is prose; words in their best order; – poetry; the best words in the best order.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

No celebration of poetry is complete without Coleridge and Wordsworth. These Romantic pioneers regarded poetry as the highest form of art. Coleridge differentiates poetry from prose through its arrangement and word choice. While prose follows a logical structure, poetry transcends it, embodying the "best words in the best order.