Robert Graves1895–1985Love is a universal migraine.
A bright stain on the vision
Blotting out reason.“Symptoms of Love,” lines 1-3, from More Poems (1961)- Reply to questionnaire, “The Cost of Letters” in Horizon (September 1946)
A perfect poem is impossible. Once it had been written, the world would end.
The Paris Review, “Writers at Work: 4th series,” interview with Peter Buckman and William Fifield (1969)- The Observer (6 December 1964)
- “Sick Love,” lines 7–12, from Poems 1929
There is one story and one story only
That will prove worth your telling“To Juan at the Winter Solstice” from Poems 1938-1945 (1946)Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon
The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon.“The Persian Version,” lines 1–2, from Poems 1938-1945: Satires and Grotesques (1946)- Goodbye to All That (1929), Ch. 17
