"Poetry, with its brevity and precision, is a natural training ground, or whetstone, for critical thinking. All of its devices, in addition to the highly accessible metaphor and image, are consummate communicators and powerful persuaders, for good or ill—mood, tone, personification, diction, allusion, symbol, and so many more—and all, when diligently pursued engender, or sharpen, critical thought, food for the brain as well as the heart."