What is Poetry?

These three writers have three very different conceptions of what poetry is and what it means to be a poet. How do you define poetry? Keep your answer concise, and as poetic as possible. Consider using a metaphor the way that Rich and Neruda as you develop your definition.

"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”

-William Wordsworth

“Poems are like dreams; in them you put what you don’t know you know”

-Adrienne Rich

“I have always maintained that the writer’s task has nothing to do with mystery or magic, and that the poet’s, at least, must be a personal effort for the benefit of all. The closest thing to poetry is a loaf of bread or a ceramic dish or a piece of wood lovingly carved, even if by clumsy hands”

-Pablo Neruda