All that can best be expressed in words should be expressed in verse, but verse is a slow thing to create; nay, it is not really created: it is a secretion of the mind, it is a pearl that gathers round some irritant and slowly expresses the very essence of beauty and of desire that has lain long, potential and unexpressed, in the mind of the man who secretes it. God knows that this Unknown Country has been hit off in verse a hundred times.. Milton does it so well in the Fourth Book of Paradise Lost that I defy any man of a sane understanding to read the whole of that book before going to bed and not to wake up next morning as though he had been on a journey. Hilaire Belloc
About This Quote

In the quote from John Keats "Aubade", Keats describes his poem, "To Autumn," as a “secretion” or a "pearl." The reason that Keats chose these words is that he was trying to express the beauty and the desire that he had for his lover, Fanny Brawne. He felt that if he could express his love in a way that only he could understand, it would be more powerful than if he expressed it in normal conversation. Keats felt that poetry was more powerful than normal conversation because it was more personal and intimate, and by expressing it in this way, he was able to show his feelings for Fanny in a way that she would truly understand.

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