He also examined the role of the poet in American society and famously summarized his poetic method in the phrase "No ideas but in things" (found in his poem "A Sort of a Song" and repeated again and again in Paterson).
Tamén examinou a personaxe do poeta na sociedade estadounidense e resumiu o seu método poético coa frase "No ideas but in things" (non nas ideas, senón nas cousas, atopado no seu poema "A Sort of a Song" e repetido novamente en Paterson).