Time—a few centuries here or there—means very little in the world of poems. The Latin poets, the Victorian poets, the Black Mountain poets—they all left us poems that are of abiding interest. The subjects that stir the heart are not so many, after all, and they do not change. Styles change, and the historial backgrounds change, but these are only peripheral matters.
Mary Oliver, A Poetry Handbook
I agree with Mary Oliver, but I still find myself so much more drawn to Modern poets and their poems than any other time period. (Maybe with contemporary poets/poems as a somewhat close draw. Kim Addonizio, I’m yours.)
-R
(via structureandstyle)