QUOTATIONS
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“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Read more
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In the rabbinical tradition, at times of calamity and great suffering, Jews are advised to read three books: The fact that the most important passages of these books were written in poetry is no accident. For it is poetry, and poetry alone, that can truly give voice to the utterances of our hearts. “How lonely sits the… Read more
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Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. – Carl Sandburg Read more
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If I were ever to teach a class to aspiring American poets, I would have one required text: the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. Hemingway famously wrote in The Green Hills of Africa that all modern American fiction comes from one book, Huckleberry Finn. A similar thing can be said for Walt Whitman and the 1855 edition of Leaves… Read more
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It is the unflagging beauty of the writing, day after day, that confirms [Thoreau’s Journals] greatness among writers’ journals. ~ Alfred Kazin I have posted here before that I read and reread Thoreau’s journals the same way I read and reread W.B. Yeats and a few other poets For grounding.. Thoreau’s Journals read like prose poetry. It… Read more
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Joy Harjo (b. 1951) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. Her poetry is generally characterized by: Here is one of my favorite Harjo poems, “Eagle Poem.” Enjoy! EAGLE POEM by Joy HarjoTo pray you open your… Read more
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Poetry is not a matter of feelings, it is a matter of language. It is language which creates feelings. -Umberto Eco Read more
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“A strange land we wandered to eastern horizonsWhere blueness of mountains swam in their blue–In blue beyond name.” Robert Penn Warren is probably remembered more today as a novelist than as a poet. While it is true that he did win the Pulitzer Prize in 1946 for his famous novel All the King’s Men, he actually… Read more
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Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979) was born in Massachusetts but raised in Nova Scotia by her maternal grandmother. While she originally attended Vassar College with the intention of studying music to become a composer, she was reportedly terrified of performing and subsequently switched her major to English. Bishop is frequently described as a “poet’s poet.” Her work is characterized by… Read more
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Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) was an American poet, feminist, and lesbian activist. Her early poetry, which was greatly admired by W.H. Auden, was quite formal. However, as she struggled with the repressiveness of the 1950s and patriarchal society, she broke away from formalism to free verse. She is one of the few poets I can think… Read more
ClimbingSky 