Poetry & Paradise:Mary Oliver’s thoughts on poetry

What is poetry? How do we read poetry? What distinguishes poetry from other forms of literature or art? Perhaps "more intense use of language-- "higher voltage" per word (Perrine)?

Here are two glimpses of Mary Oliver's view of what poetry is:

"The thoughtful machinery of the poem..." Mary Oliver's introduction to Poetry, 1994

"If poetry lifts the latch, and gives a glimpse into a greater paradise...[then it awakens within the poet] a fever and desire beyond the margins of self."--Mary Oliver's A poetry handbook
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