“The word poet continually reminds me of long-hair and seems to me a most detestable form of insult.”

Rejecting conventional poetic affectation in favour of plain 'lines' · Conversation or letter (commonly attested)

• Authenticity
• Poetry
• Poets

“There is a great deal of labor connected with literature. I think that is the hardest thing about it.”

Acknowledging the sheer effort required by the craft · Letter, after leaving college (published 1900)

• Effort
• Literature
• Work

“Later I discovered that my creed was identical with the one of Howells and Garland and in this way I became involved in the beautiful war between those who say that art is man’s substitute for nature and we are most successful in art when we approach the nearest to nature and truth.”

Aligning himself with the realists against artificial cleverness · Letter to Lily Brandon, 29 February 1896

• Art
• Realism
• Truth