When interviewed by Harvey Breit of The New York Times Book Review, Robert Frost said:
“If poetry isn’t understanding all, the whole word, then it isn’t worth anything. Young poets forget that poetry must include the mind as well as the emotions. Too many poets delude themselves by thinking the mind is dangerous and must be left out. Well, the mind is dangerous and must be left in.”
When asked his method for writing a poem, Frost said: “I have worried quite a number of them into existence, but any sneaking preference [I have had] remains for the ones I have carried through like the stroke of a racquet, club or headsman’s ax.”