Archibald MacLeish - Ars Poetica

"A poem should be palpable and mute

As a globed fruit,

Dumb

As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone

Of casement ledges where the moss has grown–

A poem should be wordless

As the flight of birds.
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A poem should be motionless in time

As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases                                       

Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

 Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,

Memory by memory the mind–

A poem should be motionless in time

As the moon climbs.
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A poem should be equal to:
Not true.

For all the history of grief 
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea–

A poem should not mean
But be."   ~ Archibald MacLeish