---
title: "Best Poetry Sayings by Edward Hirsch"
description: "138 Poetry quotes by Edward Hirsch. Plus more from Edward Hirsch and more Poetry sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/816/edward-hirsch-1614_books_my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-p_2547602.png"
---

> [My focus is on the reader and that the poet's job is not to inspire himself or herself. The poet's job is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-poet-s-job-is-not-to-inspire-2/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/816/edward-hirsch-1614_books_my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-p_2547602.png)

> [The poet wants justice. And the poet wants art. In poetry we can't have one without the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-poet-wants-justice-and-the-poet-wants-art-in-poetry-we-can-t-have/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/634/edward-hirsch-1614_art_the-poet-wants-justice-and-the-poet-want_1376769.png)

> [I would keep in mind to a young poet that you are entering into something that is very important, that has always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-would-keep-in-mind-to-a-young-poet-that-you-are-entering-into/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f86/edward-hirsch-1614_concern_i-would-keep-in-mind-to-a-young-poet-tha_1601526.jpg)

> [I think it's true that that's something that poetry can go to school on fiction. I think poetry can go to fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-it-s-true-that-that-s-something-that-poetry-can-go-to-school/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cb/edward-hirsch-1614_fiction_i-think-it-s-true-that-that-s-something_730694.png)

> [You're alone with yourself and your own feelings and that gives you deeper access to what you need to get in touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/you-re-alone-with-yourself-and-your-own-feelings-and-that-gives-you/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/edward-hirsch-1614_access_you-re-alone-with-yourself-and-your-own_2700802.png)

> [Ultimately you're trying to reach across and find some other person, some other human warmth. But it is, especially in written poetry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/ultimately-you-re-trying-to-reach-across-and-find-some-other-person/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/edward-hirsch-1614_humans_ultimately-you-re-trying-to-reach-across_3103514.png)

> [Then I found another one, grandpa's poem. It turned out it had been written by Emily Brontë and it wasn't my grandfather's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/then-i-found-another-one-grandpa-s-poem-it-turned-out-it-had-been/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fc/edward-hirsch-1614_books_then-i-found-another-one-grandpa-s-poem_1516403.png)

> [In high school I was leafing through an anthology that our teachers had given up and I found a poem, I go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/in-high-school-i-was-leafing-through-an-anthology-that-our-teachers/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/edward-hirsch-1614_anthology_in-high-school-i-was-leafing-through-an_868312.jpg)

> [The muse, the beloved, and duende are three ways of thinking of what is the source of poetry, and all three seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-muse-the-beloved-and-duende-are-three-ways-of-thinking-of-what-is/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/edward-hirsch-1614_different-ways_the-muse-the-beloved-and-duende-are-thre_1316222.png)

> [Emily Dickinson calls previous poets her kinsmen of the shelf. You can always be consoled by your kinsmen of the shelf and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/emily-dickinson-calls-previous-poets-her-kinsmen-of-the-shelf-you-can/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/edward-hirsch-1614_emily_emily-dickinson-calls-previous-poets-her_1859238.jpg)

> [The mysterious thing about writing poetry is that when you're - when things are going poorly, when you're not thinking well, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-mysterious-thing-about-writing-poetry-is-that-when-you-re-when/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/edward-hirsch-1614_connections_the-mysterious-thing-about-writing-poetr_581926.png)

> [Often you've read another poem that you think is so beautiful that you'd like to make something like that. And so you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/often-you-ve-read-another-poem-that-you-think-is-so-beautiful-that/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07b/edward-hirsch-1614_beautiful_often-you-ve-read-another-poem-that-you_413540.jpg)

> [I would be happier if people who went through MFA programs also were already, by then, deeply committed readers of poetry because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-would-be-happier-if-people-who-went-through-mfa-programs-also-were/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/edward-hirsch-1614_books_i-would-be-happier-if-people-who-went-th_2009270.png)

> [Poetry is a form of necessary speech... I have sought to restore the aura of sacred practice that accompanies true poetic creation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-is-a-form-of-necessary-speech-i-have-sought-to-restore-the/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/edward-hirsch-1614_aura_poetry-is-a-form-of-necessary-speech-i-h_1384080.png)

> [A certain construct of emotions that really define who you are and who you will become and I feel very much that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/a-certain-construct-of-emotions-that-really-define-who-you-are-and/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0f/edward-hirsch-1614_alive_a-certain-construct-of-emotions-that-rea_648307.jpg)

> [I would say there are different kinds of poems. There are things that poets in the history of poetry hit upon when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-would-say-there-are-different-kinds-of-poems-there-are-things-that/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/edward-hirsch-1614_age_i-would-say-there-are-different-kinds-of_2509857.jpg)

> [I think that the dark side of MFA programs is that they're generating more poets than the culture can absorb and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-that-the-dark-side-of-mfa-programs-is-that-they-re-generating/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/edward-hirsch-1614_culture_i-think-that-the-dark-side-of-mfa-progra_2677569.png)

> [Scholars of the Hebrew bible define something they call wisdom literature and I would say clearly the poetry of wisdom is something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/scholars-of-the-hebrew-bible-define-something-they-call-wisdom/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/edward-hirsch-1614_age_scholars-of-the-hebrew-bible-define-some_2538285.jpg)

> [There's been no poet, no great poet in the history of poetry who hasn't also been a great reader of poetry. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-s-been-no-poet-no-great-poet-in-the-history-of-poetry-who-hasn/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/edward-hirsch-1614_books_there-s-been-no-poet-no-great-poet-in-th_815088.png)

> [When I was a freshman in college I went to Grinnell College in Iowa. I brought my poems to my freshman humanities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/when-i-was-a-freshman-in-college-i-went-to-grinnell-college-in-iowa-i/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/edward-hirsch-1614_carols_when-i-was-a-freshman-in-college-i-went_1424296.png)

> [The sole literary presence from my childhood was my grandfather, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia, who eccentrically copied poems into the backs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-sole-literary-presence-from-my-childhood-was-my-grandfather-a/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71b/edward-hirsch-1614_books_the-sole-literary-presence-from-my-child_2870879.png)

> [So, some of the most difficult formal poems that I've written, say one sentence sonnets, I've been able to do those fairly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/so-some-of-the-most-difficult-formal-poems-that-i-ve-written-say-one/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/edward-hirsch-1614_able_so-some-of-the-most-difficult-formal-poe_3018648.png)

> [And when my second book had come out, "Wild Gratitude," I went to Pearl London's class and she worked through different drafts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-when-my-second-book-had-come-out-wild-gratitude-i-went-to-pearl/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/edward-hirsch-1614_august_and-when-my-second-book-had-come-out-wil_823996.png)

> [In American tradition a certain kind of, I would say, desperate American friendliness in which the poet tries to reach out through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/in-american-tradition-a-certain-kind-of-i-would-say-desperate/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd7/edward-hirsch-1614_american-tradition_in-american-tradition-a-certain-kind-of_1998428.png)

> [I didn't read poetry seriously until college, when I really began to devour it in a very intense way. I also discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-didn-t-read-poetry-seriously-until-college-when-i-really-began-to/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b0/edward-hirsch-1614_college_i-didn-t-read-poetry-seriously-until-col_2771635.jpg)

> [When I taught at the University of Houston in the Creative Writing program, we required the poets to take workshops in fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/when-i-taught-at-the-university-of-houston-in-the-creative-writing/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/edward-hirsch-1614_creative-writing_when-i-taught-at-the-university-of-houst_925182.png)

> [And a lot of poetry is putting yourself back into the state of wonder that you have before things when you're a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-a-lot-of-poetry-is-putting-yourself-back-into-the-state-of-wonder/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/edward-hirsch-1614_children_and-a-lot-of-poetry-is-putting-yourself_3022123.jpg)

> [I think poetry will survive and I don't think it will be the end of poetry. Our tremendous onslaught of mass media…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-poetry-will-survive-and-i-don-t-think-it-will-be-the-end-of/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/edward-hirsch-1614_certain_i-think-poetry-will-survive-and-i-don-t_499737.png)

> [We're trying to make something that lasts in language and there's no question that many fiction writers began as poets and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/we-re-trying-to-make-something-that-lasts-in-language-and-there-s-no/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/edward-hirsch-1614_fiction_we-re-trying-to-make-something-that-last_3063645.png)

> [Poetry is meant to inspire readers and listeners, to connect them more deeply to themselves even as it links them more fully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-is-meant-to-inspire-readers-and-listeners-to-connect-them-more/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fd/edward-hirsch-1614_books_poetry-is-meant-to-inspire-readers-and-l_1242743.png)

> [When you find it you become the secret addressee of a literary text and I felt that their reader had been left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/when-you-find-it-you-become-the-secret-addressee-of-a-literary-text/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/edward-hirsch-1614_books_when-you-find-it-you-become-the-secret-a_2535878.png)

> [The terms of poetry - some simple, some complicated, some ancient, some new - should bring us closer to what we're hearing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-terms-of-poetry-some-simple-some-complicated-some-ancient-some/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/edward-hirsch-1614_experience_the-terms-of-poetry-some-simple-some-com_1141507.png)

> [I had feelings that I didn't know what to do with, and I felt better when I started writing them. I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-had-feelings-that-i-didn-t-know-what-to-do-with-and-i-felt-better/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/edward-hirsch-1614_feelings_i-had-feelings-that-i-didn-t-know-what-t_89080.png)

> [I started then to try and shape something rather than just express it and when I started to shape something and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-started-then-to-try-and-shape-something-rather-than-just-express-it/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/edward-hirsch-1614_integrating_i-started-then-to-try-and-shape-somethin_2471207.jpg)

> [I find great consolation in having a lot of poetry books around. I believe that writing poetry and reading it are deeply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-find-great-consolation-in-having-a-lot-of-poetry-books-around-i/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/edward-hirsch-1614_believe_i-find-great-consolation-in-having-a-lot_73949.png)

> [Poetry never loses its appeal. Sometimes its audience wanes and sometimes it swells like a wave. But the essential mystery of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-never-loses-its-appeal-sometimes-its-audience-wanes-and/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdc/edward-hirsch-1614_appeals_poetry-never-loses-its-appeal-sometimes_435298.jpg)

> [I don't have a set schedule to work on poetry at any given time, at the same time every day, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-don-t-have-a-set-schedule-to-work-on-poetry-at-any-given-time-at/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/edward-hirsch-1614_every-day_i-don-t-have-a-set-schedule-to-work-on-p_1018586.jpg)

> [I think there are different kinds of poetry for different stages of life and there's the wild, exuberance of youth, there's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-there-are-different-kinds-of-poetry-for-different-stages-of/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/edward-hirsch-1614_agony_i-think-there-are-different-kinds-of-poe_786175.png)

> [Someone who's awake in the middle of the night is a soul consciousness when everyone else is asleep, and that creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/someone-who-s-awake-in-the-middle-of-the-night-is-a-soul/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/edward-hirsch-1614_middle_someone-who-s-awake-in-the-middle-of-the_2192720.png)

> [I just think that limits the kinds of experiences that people can have with poetry. But, poetry will survive; I don't worry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-just-think-that-limits-the-kinds-of-experiences-that-people-can/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/edward-hirsch-1614_attention_i-just-think-that-limits-the-kinds-of-ex_1229491.png)

## Other authors on Poetry

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- [Ralph Waldo Emerson 146 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/ralph-waldo-emerson/)
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- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 111 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/henry-david-thoreau/)
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- [Atticus Poetry 92 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/atticus-poetry/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-charles-bukowski-22166.jpg) Charles Bukowski 89 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/charles-bukowski/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-walt-whitman-94308.jpg) Walt Whitman 82 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/walt-whitman/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-oscar-wilde-72846.jpg) Oscar Wilde 78 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/oscar-wilde/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-billy-collins-18123.jpg) Billy Collins 77 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/billy-collins/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-virginia-woolf-93906.jpg) Virginia Woolf 75 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/virginia-woolf/)

## More by Edward Hirsch

> [And my experience is the best titles, for me, emerge in the process of writing. They don't usually come at the very beginning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-my-experience-is-the-best-titles-for-me-emerge-in-the-process-of/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [“I did not know the work of mourning Is like carrying a bag of cement Up a mountain at night The mountaintop is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-did-not-know-the-work-of-mourning-is-like-carrying-a-bag-of-cement/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [“Fall" Fall, falling, fallen. That’s the way the season Changes its tense in the long-haired maples That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/fall-fall-falling-fallen-that-s-the-way-the-season-changes-its-tense/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-find-great-consolation-in-having-a-lot-of-poetry-books-around-i/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-had-feelings-that-i-didn-t-know-what-to-do-with-and-i-felt-better/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [I think in terms of educating a group of readers, MFA programs are very good. I just think the model of MFA programs in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-in-terms-of-educating-a-group-of-readers-mfa-programs-are/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [“Jonson wrote a poem and called his son His best piece of poetrie A lovely line a little loathsome I loved that poem once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-his-best-piece-of-poetrie-a/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [After my grandfather died I went down to the basement of my family house where my family kept books, anthologies and things and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/after-my-grandfather-died-i-went-down-to-the-basement-of-my-family/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [It does demand a certain space in order to read it and I think that space is somewhat threatened by the lack of attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/it-does-demand-a-certain-space-in-order-to-read-it-and-i-think-that/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [...I put down these memorandums of my affections in honor of tenderness, in honor of all of those who have been conscripted into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-put-down-these-memorandums-of-my-affections-in-honor-of-tenderness/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [Poetry is a vocation. It is not a career but a calling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-is-a-vocation-it-is-not-a-career-but-a-calling/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [You're shadowed by your own dream, especially as you get older, of trying to create something that will last in poetry. And so, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/you-re-shadowed-by-your-own-dream-especially-as-you-get-older-of/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-attention-deficit-disorder-of-the-culture-is-very-distressing-in/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [Now, as I've gotten older I've been able to write more quickly. Sometimes I get in the space of something and I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/now-as-i-ve-gotten-older-i-ve-been-able-to-write-more-quickly/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

> [Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-takes-courage-because-you-have-to-face-things-and-you-try-to/)

[Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/)

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                        "text": "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.",
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                        "text": "Emily Dickinson calls previous poets her kinsmen of the shelf. You can always be consoled by your kinsmen of the shelf and you can participate in poetry by going to them and by trying to make something worthy of them.",
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                        "text": "Often you've read another poem that you think is so beautiful that you'd like to make something like that. And so you try to make a sonnet that works in a certain kind of way, or you try to make something that's songlike, or you create a refrain, or you love the way a poem works in two line stanzas and you try to do that.",
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                        "text": "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.",
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                        "text": "A certain construct of emotions that really define who you are and who you will become and I feel very much that my childhood is very alive inside of me, very close to me, very much part of me. And it's a sometimes painful, sometimes joyous inexhaustible resource for poetry.",
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                        "text": "I would say there are different kinds of poems. There are things that poets in the history of poetry hit upon when they're very young that can never be outdone and it's a remarkable, strange experience when you think of say Arthur Rimbaud who write poetry between the ages of 17 and 21 whose career was over by the time he was 22.",
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                        "text": "I think that the dark side of MFA programs is that they're generating more poets than the culture can absorb and there are more people writing poetry than possibly read it or can certainly earn a living around it.",
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                        "text": "Scholars of the Hebrew bible define something they call wisdom literature and I would say clearly the poetry of wisdom is something that comes with age or that might come with age which has to do with reflecting on experience.",
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                        "text": "There's been no poet, no great poet in the history of poetry who hasn't also been a great reader of poetry. This is sometimes distressing to my students when I tell them this.",
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                        "text": "When I was a freshman in college I went to Grinnell College in Iowa. I brought my poems to my freshman humanities teacher whose name was Carol Parsinan, a wonderful teacher. And Carol did a really great thing for me. She taught me more than anyone.",
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                        "text": "The sole literary presence from my childhood was my grandfather, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia, who eccentrically copied poems into the backs of his books. After he died, when I was 8 years old, my grandmother gave his books away, and his poems were lost.",
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                        "text": "So, some of the most difficult formal poems that I've written, say one sentence sonnets, I've been able to do those fairly quickly whereas some of the clearest, simplest lyrics that I've written have taken me the longest to get to the clarity of feeling that you're looking for.",
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                        "text": "And when my second book had come out, \"Wild Gratitude,\" I went to Pearl London's class and she worked through different drafts of poems and there were the drafts of my poem, \"Wild Gratitude,\" and I saw that I had begun the poem with the title \"August 13th.\"",
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                        "text": "In American tradition a certain kind of, I would say, desperate American friendliness in which the poet tries to reach out through the page to make a connection by the side of the road with some other person.",
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                        "text": "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.",
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                        "text": "And a lot of poetry is putting yourself back into the state of wonder that you have before things when you're a child. It's not only a joyous wonder, it's sometimes a grief stricken wonder.",
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                        "text": "Poetry never loses its appeal. Sometimes its audience wanes and sometimes it swells like a wave. But the essential mystery of being human is always going to engage and compel us. We're involved in a mystery. Poetry uses words to put us in touch with that mystery. We're always going to need it.",
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