Paul Valery Poetry Quotations

The power of verse stems from an indefinable harmony between when it says and what it is.

If what has happened in the one person were communicated directly to the other, all art would collapse, all the effects of art would disappear.

Thought must be hidden in the verse like nutritional virtue in a fruit.

A bad poem is one that vanishes into meaning.

A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas than in seeking ideas for his words and predominant rhythms.