Samuel Butler (novelist) Quote

The greatest poets never write poetry. The Homers and Shakespeares are not the greatest — they are only the greatest that we can know. And so with Handel among musicians. For the highest poetry, whether in music or literature, is ineffable — it must be felt from one person to another, it cannot be articulated.

Poetry - The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912) - Part XII - The Enfant Terrible of Literature