odds are against

A poem has as much chance of being perfect as the person who composed it has.

least and slight

He was afraid he’d become one of those poets who could compose something from the least wisp of thought, a slight wind brushing the skin.

it's all there

He reached a point where it was enough to compose the poem in his mind—no need to write it down.

single motion

He composed a line in a single motion, like an archer taking an arrow from a quiver.

elevated speech

She spoke in such full and well-composed sentences that a conversation with her was like reading a good book.

melted celluloid

When it comes to composing an image cinema is both resource and reliquary.

stumbled upon

The images of a haiku should seem stumbled upon, encountered by happenstance; never as composed or arranged as though a set design.

whole at once

He alone can conceive and compose, who sees the whole at once before him.

—Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), Life and Writings of Henry Fuseli, edited by John Knowles