Since 2005, Poetry magazine has published a column called "The View from Here" where readers "from outside the world of poetry" describe their love of this art, what drew them to it, and what enchantments and meanings emanate from verse.
In this collection of those columns, you will find praise of poetry from philosophers, journalists, musicians, doctors, lawyers, anthropologists, ministers, psychologists, and many others. Editors Fred Sasaki and Don Share open our hearts, minds, and souls to the good medicine of poetry with quotes such as these:
- "I have found a kind of solace in poetry that I cannot find elsewhere."
— Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry
- "Poetry has helped me become more versed, so to speak, in the language of emotion."
— Lily Taylor, actress
- "Poetry teaches me that I basically know nothing, and that acknowledging this position is a beginning and never an end."
— Jia Tolentino, a staff writer for the New Yorker website
- "Poetry isn’t just a way of writing, it’s a way of thinking."
— Mary Schmich, columnist for the Chicago Tribune
- "Great writing serves as a steady reminder that, among mutable and inconstant human beings, these remain glimpses of redemption, understanding, and compassion — even if these virtues rarely triumph."
— Chris Hedges, war correspondent
Many of those who express their delight in poetry lift our spirits with their praise of this art form. Here's an example:
"Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest external horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives."
— Audre Lorde, poet
