Importance of Poetry

President John F. Kennedy, in speaking at Amherst college on a day honouring poet Robert Frost, said : "The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the nation's greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as in dispensable, especially when the questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use the power or power uses us". And "When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. ....for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgement".