--- title: "2 Free verse Quotes By Ellen Bass" description: "2 Free verse quotes by Ellen Bass. Plus more from Ellen Bass and more Free verse sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/ellen-bass-18832_black-eyes_if-you-knew-what-if-you-knew-you-d-be-th_247467.jpg" --- > [“If You Knew What if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone? If you were taking tickets, for example, at the theater, tearing them, giving back the ragged stubs, you might take care to touch that palm brush…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/if-you-knew-what-if-you-knew-you-d-be-the-last-to-touch-someone-if/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/ellen-bass-18832_black-eyes_if-you-knew-what-if-you-knew-you-d-be-th_247467.jpg) > [“Dead Butterfly By Ellen Bass For months my daughter carried a dead monarch in a quart mason jar. To and from school in her backpack, to her only friend’s house. At the dinner table it sat like a guest alongside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/dead-butterfly-by-ellen-bass-for-months-my-daughter-carried-a-dead/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/ellen-bass-18832_arresting-ends_dead-butterfly-by-ellen-bass-for-months_386324.jpg) ## Other authors on Free verse - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-james-fenton-46286.jpg) James Fenton 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-verse/james-fenton/) - [Bryana Johnson 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-verse/bryana-johnson/) ## More by Ellen Bass > [“In spite of the horror, in spite of the tragedy, in spite of the weeks of sleepless nights, I'm finally alive. I'm not pretending.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/in-spite-of-the-horror-in-spite-of-the-tragedy-in-spite-of-the-weeks/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [Garrison Keillor read several of my poems on 'The Writer's Almanac' and I've heard from listeners nationally and internationally. That's one of the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/garrison-keillor-read-several-of-my-poems-on-the-writer-s-almanac-and/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“If You Knew What if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone? If you were taking tickets, for example, at the theater,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/if-you-knew-what-if-you-knew-you-d-be-the-last-to-touch-someone-if/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [Allow yourself to release the emotions you have struggled all your life to contain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/allow-yourself-to-release-the-emotions-you-have-struggled-all-your/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“The Aftermath When the fierce pure pleasure has clawed through, ripped open my tent of separateness, I lay in my lover's arms, weeping and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/the-aftermath-when-the-fierce-pure-pleasure-has-clawed-through-ripped/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“Dead Butterfly By Ellen Bass For months my daughter carried a dead monarch in a quart mason jar. To and from school in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/dead-butterfly-by-ellen-bass-for-months-my-daughter-carried-a-dead/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [If you’ve managed to do one good thing, the ocean doesn’t care. But when Newton’s apple fell toward the earth, the earth, ever so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/if-you-ve-managed-to-do-one-good-thing-the-ocean-doesn-t-care-but/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [There is a comfort in knowing that you don’t have to pretend anymore, that you are going to do everything within your power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/there-is-a-comfort-in-knowing-that-you-don-t-have-to-pretend-anymore/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [ Visualizing how you want to be is \[an\] effective way to move toward your goal. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/visualizing-how-you-want-to-be-is-an-effective-way-to-move-toward/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“Healing was a terrifying and painful experience and my life was as full of struggle and heartache as it had always been. Several years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/healing-was-a-terrifying-and-painful-experience-and-my-life-was-as/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“The World Has Need Of You” everything here seems to need us —Rainer Maria Rilke I can hardly imagine it as I walk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/the-world-has-need-of-you-everything-here-seems-to-need-us-rainer/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [Exercise stimulates your circulation, massages your internal organs, stretches and strengthens your muscles, and energizes you. Exercise is also a great way to discharge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/exercise-stimulates-your-circulation-massages-your-internal-organs/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [I wanted to be a writer since I was in high school, but I never thought it was possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-since-i-was-in-high-school-but-i-never/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [Your wallet will be stolen, you'll get fat, slip on the bathroom tiles of a foreign hotel and crack your hip.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/your-wallet-will-be-stolen-you-ll-get-fat-slip-on-the-bathroom-tiles/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [What would people look like if we could see them as they are, soaked in honey, stung and swollen, reckless, pinned against time?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/what-would-people-look-like-if-we-could-see-them-as-they-are-soaked/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-verse/ellen-bass/#itemlist", "name": "2 Free verse Quotes By Ellen Bass", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If You Knew What if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone? 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