The line is a way of framing poetry. All verse is measured by lines. The poetic line immediately announces its difference from everyday speech and prose. Edward Hirsch announcedifferenceeveryday Change image and share on social
I wasn't afraid of being poor. I didn't want to live in a big house. I'm the perfect size for poetry. I can move around. Eileen Myles afraidbighouse 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
I will not leave a corner of my consciousness covered up, but saturate myself with the strange and extraordinary new conditions of this life, and it will all refine itself into poetry later on. Isaac Rosenberg conditionconsciousnesscorner Change image and share on social
America's liberal arts universities have long been safe zones for leftist thinking, protected ivory towers for the pseudo-elite who earn their livings writing papers nobody reads about gender roles in the poetry of Maya Angelou. Ben Shapiro americaangelouart share on social
The olive branch has been consecrated to peace, palm branches to victory, the laurel to conquest and poetry, the myrtle to love and pleasure, the cypress to mourning, and the willow to despondency. Dorothea Dix branchconquestconsecrate Change image and share on social
When I hit a block, regardless of what I am writing, what the subject matter is, or what's going on in the plot, I go back and I read Pablo Neruda's poetry. I don't actually speak Spanish, so I read it translation. But I always go back to Neruda. I don't know why, but it calms me, calms my brain. Tea Obreht backblockbrain share on social
Everyone thinks they're going to write one book of poems or one novel. Marilyn Hacker bookpoemthink Change image and share on social
Poetry is a pure meritocracy. There's no room for ambiguity: either a poem moves you and opens up new vistas in life, or it doesn't. It's completely objective, and the best always rise to the top. Jim Goetz ambiguitycompletelylife Change image and share on social
Poetry for me is very easy. It's like a lightning bolt. I feel this calling, and the first line of the poem comes into my head, and I just have to go to the page, to the typewriter, to the computer or whatever and write it. Gioconda Belli boltcallcomputer share on social