Poetry is 'the ultimate miracle of language'

'We who earn our living by the pen hold the poets in especial awe. We know that in a hundred years' time, when students of literature are saying "Eh? Martin Who? A N Who? Salman What Did You Say?, they will be reading Geoffrey Hill. Poetry is distillation. Poetry is saying something that no one else could say, and saying it in words that could not be paraphrased, still less translated. It is the ultimate miracle of language.'

A N Wilson in the Daily Telegraph