To this congress the poet speaks not of peculiar and personal things,… — Richard Wilbur

To this congress the poet speaks not of peculiar and personal things, but of what in himself is most common, most anonymous, most fundamental, most true of all men.

Richard WilburPoet · American · b. 1921

More from Richard Wilbur

Men often pass from love to ambition, but they seldom come back again from ambition to love. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A great many men's gratitude is nothing but a secret desire to hook in more valuable kindnesses hereafter. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Men have a respect for scholarship and learning greatly out of proportion to the use they commonly serve. — Henry David Thoreau
What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you. — Richard Wilbur
It is true that the poet does not directly address his neighbors; but he does address a great congress of persons who dwell at the back of his mind, a congress of all those who have taught him and whom he has admired; they constitute his ideal audience and his better self. — Richard Wilbur