Edward Hirsch quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Edward Hirsch

Edward Hirsch Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Edward Hirsch on Wise Famous Quotes.

Edward Hirsch quotes: And when I'm writing well and when I'm inside the feeling, then I can do fairly complicated things with some fluency.

And when I'm writing well and when I'm inside the feeling, then I can do fairly complicated things with some fluency.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The same soul never steps into the river twice.

The same soul never steps into the river twice.

Edward Hirsch quotes: And what I've found over time is that for me to write a poem that I think is worthy that I can live with, two things have to happen.

And what I've found over time is that for me to write a poem that I think is worthy that I can live with, two things have to happen.

Edward Hirsch quotes: You're alone with yourself and your own feelings and that gives you deeper access to what you need to get in touch with to write poetry.

You're alone with yourself and your own feelings and that gives you deeper access to what you need to get in touch with to write poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I don't think you can read poetry while you're watching television very well.

I don't think you can read poetry while you're watching television very well.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The Portuguese and Galician term 'saudade' suggests a profoundly bittersweet nostalgia.

The Portuguese and Galician term 'saudade' suggests a profoundly bittersweet nostalgia.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I grew up in a middle-class house without books, without art. No one around me wrote poetry or even read it.

I grew up in a middle-class house without books, without art. No one around me wrote poetry or even read it.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The sense of flowing, which is so crucial to song, is also crucial to poetry.

The sense of flowing, which is so crucial to song, is also crucial to poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I am a tiny seashell that has secretly drifted ashore and carries the sound of the ocean surging through its body.

I am a tiny seashell
that has secretly drifted ashore
and carries the sound of the ocean
surging through its body.

Edward Hirsch quotes: As long as there's been poetry, there have been lamentations.

As long as there's been poetry, there have been lamentations.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I like the machinery of poems, especially when they have human warmth.

I like the machinery of poems, especially when they have human warmth.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I guess that would have been 1968. I was a freshman in college and I wasn't writing good poems, but I was at least trying to write poems then.

I guess that would have been 1968. I was a freshman in college and I wasn't writing good poems, but I was at least trying to write poems then.

Edward Hirsch quotes: My cultural experiences were as important to my formation as many of the other things that happened to me.

My cultural experiences were as important to my formation as many of the other things that happened to me.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Each book should be an entity unto itself, with its own structure, character, life, name.

Each book should be an entity unto itself, with its own structure, character, life, name.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I read a lot as a kid and in high school.

I read a lot as a kid and in high school.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think the culture can absorb so many people writing poetry and trying to earn their living in poetry.

I think the culture can absorb so many people writing poetry and trying to earn their living in poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Gertrude Stein said, "I write for myself and strangers." I would say I write for myself, strangers and the great dead.

Gertrude Stein said, "I write for myself and strangers." I would say I write for myself, strangers and the great dead.

Edward Hirsch quotes: A person who's only suffering can't write a poem. There are choices to be made, and you need to be objective.

A person who's only suffering can't write a poem. There are choices to be made, and you need to be objective.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The poet would befriend and comfort himself, if only he could.

The poet would befriend and comfort himself, if only he could.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The poet wants justice. And the poet wants art. In poetry we can't have one without the other.

The poet wants justice. And the poet wants art. In poetry we can't have one without the other.

Edward Hirsch quotes: We can only understand what we can name.

We can only understand what we can name.

Edward Hirsch quotes: As a reader you have a task to do, you have something to do. You bring your experience to it. It's not all inherit in the poem.

As a reader you have a task to do, you have something to do. You bring your experience to it. It's not all inherit in the poem.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The way to become a poet is to read poetry and to imitate what you read and to read passionately and widely and in as involved a way as you

The way to become a poet is to read poetry and to imitate what you read and to read passionately and widely and in as involved a way as you can.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk, not just poetry.

The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk, not just poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: A poem is a hand, a hook, a prayer. It is a soul in action.

A poem is a hand, a hook, a prayer. It is a soul in action.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Life has to have the plenitude of art.

Life has to have the plenitude of art.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I come from Chicago, and the landscape of the Midwest has always meant a great deal to me.

I come from Chicago, and the landscape of the Midwest has always meant a great deal to me.

Edward Hirsch quotes: There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world.

There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I'd say people do need some help with poetry because I think poetry just helps takes us to places that Americans aren't always accustomed to going.

I'd say people do need some help with poetry because I think poetry just helps takes us to places that Americans aren't always accustomed to going.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I began to imitate what I was reading, and I started to become a poet, even though what I was writing were not good poems.

I began to imitate what I was reading, and I started to become a poet, even though what I was writing were not good poems.

Edward Hirsch quotes: She herself feels unequal to the world's sufferings and fears that by narrowing her focus on the world to make it manageable, she has trivialized it.

She herself feels unequal to the world's sufferings and fears that by narrowing her focus on the world to make it manageable, she has trivialized it.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The elegy does the work of mourning; it allows us to experience mortality. It turns loss into remembrance, and it delivers an inheritance.

The elegy does the work of mourning; it allows us to experience mortality. It turns loss into remembrance, and it delivers an inheritance.

Edward Hirsch quotes: First of all I think that poetry is very noble and I always have with me the sense of the nobility of poetry.

First of all I think that poetry is very noble and I always have with me the sense of the nobility of poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I keep scraping the canvasAnd painting him over againBut he keeps slipping away

I keep scraping the canvas
And painting him over again
But he keeps slipping away

Edward Hirsch quotes: I wish I wrote drafts and then revised them, but I don't. What I do is I seem to revise as I go.

I wish I wrote drafts and then revised them, but I don't. What I do is I seem to revise as I go.

Edward Hirsch quotes: But, the best times I have found, in my life, are late at night or early in the morning and I think it's because you're outside the social realm.

But, the best times I have found, in my life, are late at night or early in the morning and I think it's because you're outside the social realm.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Now, as I've gotten older I've been able to write more quickly. Sometimes I get in the space of something and I can do a lot in a day.

Now, as I've gotten older I've been able to write more quickly. Sometimes I get in the space of something and I can do a lot in a day.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Poems mesmerized me, and I felt better when I was writing them, or trying to - more in touch with something deep and dark within myself.

Poems mesmerized me, and I felt better when I was writing them, or trying to - more in touch with something deep and dark within myself.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Now, the process of writing poetry is very messy. Not systematic, never quite the same

Now, the process of writing poetry is very messy. Not systematic, never quite the same

Edward Hirsch quotes: A certain kind of poetry looks back at experience from an older perspective.

A certain kind of poetry looks back at experience from an older perspective.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel.

Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I still feel that I'm capable of being as emotionally present as when I was young.

I still feel that I'm capable of being as emotionally present as when I was young.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Once your poems are completed, you send them into the world. You don't write for a coterie of other writers - you write for other human beings.

Once your poems are completed, you send them into the world. You don't write for a coterie of other writers - you write for other human beings.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I'm a poet, and I spent my life in poetry.

I'm a poet, and I spent my life in poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Writing poetry is such an intense experience that it helps to start the process in a casual or wayward frame of mind.

Writing poetry is such an intense experience that it helps to start the process in a casual or wayward frame of mind.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think that's a connection that you can only hope for. It's not something that you can make because it needs someone else.

I think that's a connection that you can only hope for. It's not something that you can make because it needs someone else.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Works of art imitate and provoke other works of art, the process is the source of art itself.

Works of art imitate and provoke other works of art, the process is the source of art itself.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Poetry takes place in time. It is a durational. Things take place in sequence.

Poetry takes place in time. It is a durational. Things take place in sequence.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I aspire to a poetry of great formal integrity, deep passion and high intellect, and I have many models for how to do that.

I aspire to a poetry of great formal integrity, deep passion and high intellect, and I have many models for how to do that.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think it's true that that's something that poetry can go to school on fiction. I think poetry can go to fiction to learn.

I think it's true that that's something that poetry can go to school on fiction. I think poetry can go to fiction to learn.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Poetry is a vocation. It is not a career but a calling.

Poetry is a vocation. It is not a career but a calling.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Cicero said that even if his lifetime were to be doubled he would still not have time to waste on reading the lyric poets.

Cicero said that even if his lifetime were to be doubled he would still not have time to waste on reading the lyric poets.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Reading poetry is an adventure in renewal, a creative act, a perpetual beginning, a rebirth of wonder.

Reading poetry is an adventure in renewal, a creative act, a perpetual beginning, a rebirth of wonder.

Edward Hirsch quotes: There is so much Everything that Nothing is hidden quite nicely. Eventually,

There is so much Everything that Nothing is hidden quite nicely. Eventually,

Edward Hirsch quotes: It's hard to think that say Shakespeare could have written "The Tempest" when he was young. It seems to be reflective work or retrospective work.

It's hard to think that say Shakespeare could have written "The Tempest" when he was young. It seems to be reflective work or retrospective work.

Edward Hirsch quotes: It's absolutely crucial to maintain my life as a poet.

It's absolutely crucial to maintain my life as a poet.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think fiction goes to poetry for the intensity of its use of language.

I think fiction goes to poetry for the intensity of its use of language.

Edward Hirsch quotes: And when you are entering into poetry, whatever stage you're at, you are participating in something with a very long and noble tradition.

And when you are entering into poetry, whatever stage you're at, you are participating in something with a very long and noble tradition.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I started writing poetry as a teenager in suburban Chicago out of emotional desperation.

I started writing poetry as a teenager in suburban Chicago out of emotional desperation.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The poets needed to learn to pay greater attention to character and to narrative.

The poets needed to learn to pay greater attention to character and to narrative.

Edward Hirsch quotes: As soon as something happens to us in America, everyone begins talking about healing. But before you heal, you have to mourn.

As soon as something happens to us in America, everyone begins talking about healing. But before you heal, you have to mourn.

Edward Hirsch quotes: The very good thing about MFA programs is their democratizing. They bring a lot of different people to the table.

The very good thing about MFA programs is their democratizing. They bring a lot of different people to the table.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I didn't sit down then and start writing poems, but it was in the back of my mind.

I didn't sit down then and start writing poems, but it was in the back of my mind.

Edward Hirsch quotes: There's always some place to go. You don't need workshops, you don't need friends necessarily, you can be befriended by literature itself.

There's always some place to go. You don't need workshops, you don't need friends necessarily, you can be befriended by literature itself.

Edward Hirsch quotes: So, it's a continual process of trial and error and then I find things and I throw it out and start again, but I keep writing it over again.

So, it's a continual process of trial and error and then I find things and I throw it out and start again, but I keep writing it over again.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think one of the things that distinguished my work from the beginning when I was in college was my turning towards poetry from other countries.

I think one of the things that distinguished my work from the beginning when I was in college was my turning towards poetry from other countries.

Edward Hirsch quotes: It's very important to me to be an American poet, a Jewish poet, a poet who came of age in the 1960s.

It's very important to me to be an American poet, a Jewish poet, a poet who came of age in the 1960s.

Edward Hirsch quotes: My focus is on the reader and that the poet's job is not to inspire himself or herself. The poet's job is to inspire some future reader.

My focus is on the reader and that the poet's job is not to inspire himself or herself. The poet's job is to inspire some future reader.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Throughout his work, Philip Levine's most powerful commitment has been to the failed and lost, the marginal, the unloved, the unwanted.

Throughout his work, Philip Levine's most powerful commitment has been to the failed and lost, the marginal, the unloved, the unwanted.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think it's one of the things that drive lyric poetry, our sense of mortality.

I think it's one of the things that drive lyric poetry, our sense of mortality.

Edward Hirsch quotes: There are a lot of poems where I am questing for God. I don't think there is any finding of God.

There are a lot of poems where I am questing for God. I don't think there is any finding of God.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I wish I could believe in the otherworld I wish I could believe in a place Of reunions outside of memory

I wish I could believe in the otherworld I wish I could believe in a place Of reunions outside of memory

Edward Hirsch quotes: There has never been a great poet who wasn't also a great reader of poetry.

There has never been a great poet who wasn't also a great reader of poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I need to live like that crooked tree ... that knelt down in the hardest windsbut could not be blasted away.

I need to live like that crooked tree
...
that knelt down in the hardest winds
but could not be blasted away.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I'm so happy to be an advocate for poetry.

I'm so happy to be an advocate for poetry.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Depression is a feeling without a cause. Mourning has a cause.

Depression is a feeling without a cause. Mourning has a cause.

Edward Hirsch quotes: When I was young, I wrote everything, and I thought I would be an all around writer, that I would write everything.

When I was young, I wrote everything, and I thought I would be an all around writer, that I would write everything.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Poets have always celebrated grief as one of the deepest human emotions.

Poets have always celebrated grief as one of the deepest human emotions.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Fresh or changing conditions ferment fresh forms.

Fresh or changing conditions ferment fresh forms.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Sometimes the title comes to you at the beginning, sometimes it comes at the end. The very best way in my experience is when it comes in the middle.

Sometimes the title comes to you at the beginning, sometimes it comes at the end. The very best way in my experience is when it comes in the middle.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I found a comfort in trying to solve some poetic problems because there were human ones I just couldn't solve.

I found a comfort in trying to solve some poetic problems because there were human ones I just couldn't solve.

Edward Hirsch quotes: All that rescues us is love.

All that rescues us is love.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I think that as long as you have other poets before you and that you can learn from them, then it's always open ended for you.

I think that as long as you have other poets before you and that you can learn from them, then it's always open ended for you.

Edward Hirsch quotes: You are always trying to make something that is more than the sum of its parts.

You are always trying to make something that is more than the sum of its parts.

Edward Hirsch quotes: Poetry itself hasn't been well served by poets who fled to the margins.

Poetry itself hasn't been well served by poets who fled to the margins.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I believe in rooting poems in actual places, even if you move into some other extraordinary realm.

I believe in rooting poems in actual places, even if you move into some other extraordinary realm.

Edward Hirsch quotes: There's the brilliant audacity of youth that poets strike upon in their earliest work sometimes that they never can hit upon again.

There's the brilliant audacity of youth that poets strike upon in their earliest work sometimes that they never can hit upon again.

Edward Hirsch quotes: I was surprised recently to find a book called "Poetry in Persons" that's coming out about visit to poets to a class that Pearl London gave.

I was surprised recently to find a book called "Poetry in Persons" that's coming out about visit to poets to a class that Pearl London gave.