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: John Joseph Fitz Gerald was a turf racing writer for the New York Morning Telegraph, from 1912 to 1940, serving as turf editor for the last 15 years.
