I grew up in a middle-class house without books, without art. No one around me wrote poetry or even read it. Edward Hirsch artbookclass Change image and share on social
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 deliverelegyexperience Change image and share on social
Someone who's awake in the middle of the night is a soul consciousness when everyone else is asleep, and that creates a feeling of solitude in poetry that I very much like. Edward Hirsch asleepawakeconsciousness Change image and share on social
The commitment to working at poetry is important because a poet is a maker, and a poem is a made thing. We have to honor our feelings by working to transform them into something meaningful and lasting. Edward Hirsch commitmentfeelinghonor share on social
James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are precise and elegant; he has a splendid New York accent; he runs his hands through his gray hair and laughs boyishly. Edward Hirsch accentboyishlyconsummate Change image and share on social
As far as I'm concerned, freedom is the most important thing to creativity. You should feel free to write in whatever way, whatever language, feels comfortable to you. Edward Hirsch comfortableconcerncreativity Change image and share on social
I still feel that I'm capable of being as emotionally present as when I was young. Edward Hirsch capableemotionallyfeel Change image and share on social
It's absolutely crucial to maintain my life as a poet. Edward Hirsch absolutelycruciallife Change image and share on social
The idea of how to read a poem is based on the idea that poetry needs you as a reader. That the experience of poetry, the meaning in poetry, is a kind of circuit that takes place between a poet, a poem and a reader, and that meaning doesn't exist or inhere in poems alone. Edward Hirsch basecircuitexist share on social
I started writing poetry as a teenager in suburban Chicago out of emotional desperation. Edward Hirsch chicagodesperationemotional Change image and share on social
