From "Notes on the Art of Poetry"

If you want a definition of poetry, say: "Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing", and let it go at that. All that matters about poetry is the enjoyment of it, however tragic it may be. All that matters is the eternal movement behind it, the vast undercurrent of human grief, folly, pretension, exaltation, or ignorance, however unlofty the intention of the poem.

The joy and function of poetry is, and was, the celebration of man, which is also the celebration of God.

-Dylan Thomas, from 'Notes on the Art of Poetry', 1951