Edward Hirsch Quotes

Edward Hirsch is an American poet known for his emotional and reflective verse. He has published numerous poetry collections, including "Wild Gratitude," "Earthly Measures," and "Gabriel: A Poem." Hirsch's poems often explore themes of loss, love, and the human experience. He has received critical acclaim for his work and has been honored with awards such as the National Book Critics Circle Award and a MacArthur Fellowship. Hirsch's poetry continues to resonate with readers for its lyrical beauty and profound insights into the complexities of life.

There have always been great defenses of poetry, and I've tried to write mine, and I think all of my work and criticism is a defense of poetry to try and keep something alive in poetry.

The idea that a poem was a made thing stayed with me, and I decided then that I wanted to be an artist, not just a diarist. So I put myself through a kind of apprenticeship in writing poetry, and I understood even then that my practice as a poet was deeply related to my reading.

There's never been a culture without poetry in the... -Edward Hirsch

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

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This quote asserts the universality of poetry, suggesting that every culture throughout history has had some form of poetry, emphasizing its enduring presence and significance in human civilization.

In every culture, in every language, there is expressive play, expressive word play; there's language use to different purposes that we would call poetry.

When I taught at the University of Houston in the Creative Writing program, we required the poets to take workshops in fiction writing, and we required the fiction writers to take workshops in poetry.

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.

Daydreaming is one of the key sources of poetry - a poem often starts as a daydream that finds its way into language - and walking seems to bring a different sort of alertness, an associative kind of thinking, a drifting state of mind.

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

Poetry itself hasn't been well served by poets who... -Edward Hirsch

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

Discovering the context

This quote suggests that poets who have chosen to distance themselves or marginalize their work from mainstream conventions or expectations have not effectively served the art form of poetry, potentially implying a need for engagement and connection with wider audiences.

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

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This quote expresses the speaker's joy and fulfillment in actively supporting or promoting poetry, indicating a sense of pride and commitment to championing the value and importance of the art form.

There are still many tribal cultures where poetry and song, there is just one word for them. There are other cultures with literacy where poetry and song are distinguished. But poetry always remembers that it has its origins in music.

When poetry separates from song, then the words have to carry all the rhythm themselves; they have to do all the work. They can't rely on the singing voice.

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.

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.

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

Poetry is a form of necessary speech... I have sought to restore the aura of sacred practice that accompanies true poetic creation, to honor both the rational and the irrational elements of poetry.

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.

I started writing poetry as a teenager in suburban... -Edward Hirsch

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

Discovering the context

This quote reveals the speaker's initial motivation for writing poetry, attributing it to a sense of emotional desperation during their teenage years in suburban Chicago, implying a cathartic or therapeutic purpose in their poetic expression.

The terms of poetry - some simple, some complicated, some ancient, some new - should bring us closer to what we're hearing, enlarging our experience of it, enabling us to describe what we're reading, to feel and think with greater precision.

Poetry takes place in time. It is a durational. Th... -Edward Hirsch

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

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This quote highlights the temporal dimension of poetry, emphasizing that poetry unfolds and progresses over time, capturing and conveying experiences and events in a sequential manner.

I don't think you can read poetry while you're wat... -Edward Hirsch

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

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This quote suggests that poetry demands focused attention and concentration, implying that engaging with poetry requires a certain level of mindfulness and immersion that may be disrupted or compromised by multitasking or distractions like watching television.

I didn't read poetry seriously until college, when I really began to devour it in a very intense way. I also discovered that a poet is a maker. Before that, I thought a poet was someone who wrote about his own experiences.

Poetry takes courage because you have to face thin... -Edward Hirsch

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

The muse, the beloved, and duende are three ways of thinking of what is the source of poetry, and all three seem to me different names or different ways to think about something that is not entirely reasonable, not entirely subject to the will, not entirely rational.

Poetry is a vocation. It is not a career but a cal... -Edward Hirsch

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

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This quote emphasizes the speaker's view that poetry is not merely a profession or occupation but a profound calling, implying that it is a deeply ingrained and essential aspect of their identity and purpose in life rather than a mere job or career choice.

The sense of flowing, which is so crucial to song,... -Edward Hirsch

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

Discovering the context

This quote draws a parallel between the sense of flow and rhythm in music, particularly in songs, and its significance in poetry, emphasizing the importance of a smooth and rhythmic quality in both artistic forms.

I had feelings that I didn't know what to do with, and I felt better when I started writing them. I thought of it as poetry. I did notice girls really liked it. Better than football. They liked the combination.

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.

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

I find great consolation in having a lot of poetry books around. I believe that writing poetry and reading it are deeply intertwined. I've always delighted in the company of the poets I've read.

Edward Hirsch Quotes

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