“I am a poet of old age.”

A concise description of his recurring concern with maturity, memory and mortality · Conversation / interview, as commonly reported

• Age
• Memory
• Mortality

“The poet must be above all things a man of the world.”

Linking poetic insight with broad human and historical awareness · Essay / prose statement on poetry

• Art
• Poetry
• Truth

“I am not a poet. I am a historian.”

Presenting his poetry as a record of historical experience and consciousness · Conversation, as reported in biographical accounts

• Memory
• Poetry
• Time