With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions should be held in reverence: they must not — they cannot at will be excited, with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations, of mankind.
Bio: James Taranto is an American journalist and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, editor of its former online editorial page OpinionJournal.com and a member of the newspaper's editorial board.
