Great lines.

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for a great line.  That's mostly what I look for in poetry, although I haven't managed a really good line for a while now.  One of my favorite poets is Mark Strand.  He's a bit of a master of the great line.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  That one line that captures a thought or an image in such a way that it resonates.  It hits your soul and bounces off.  You read it and immediately "get" it.  Let me try a couple of examples, from Mark Strand:

"The dust of a passion." 

Is that a great line or what?  We've all been there.  We knew times when we were so passionate about something, then it passed, and we look back with indifference on the thing that had us so enthralled for a while.

That's kind of a snapshot line.  The whole concept wrapped up in five words.  That takes a level of mastery that not many achieve.  Here's another one, although it takes more words: (Also from Mark Strand)

"The bitter remains of someone who might have been,
  had we not taken his place."

This line leaps past regret, I think.  We all know we're capable of a lot more than we are, but for some reason, there is something either in our psyche's or situation that prevents us from achieving all we can.  I read this line and picture an old man, sitting on a bench somewhere, wondering what the hell happened.  He had so much promise, and didn't realize much of it, if any.  He did everything he was supposed to do; he finished school, got the soul-sucking-job-from-hell, (but it paid well, and had decent benefits) got married, had a kid or two, got the house in mortgage heights, two cars, joined the right clubs, and never accomplished a single thing that he wanted to accomplish when he was in school.  Near the end of his life he looks back, and the line hits him right between the eyes.  It makes you wonder what the world would be like if we were able to accomplish those dreams we all had when we were young, doesn't it?  Would the world be a better place?  I don't know.  Young people tend to be pretty idealistic.  Not particularly realistic, but their motives are usually better.  At least they include things other than just making more money than someone else.  We get what we get, though.  I just hope I don't end up bitter.