--- title: "Best Poetry Quotations 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/a6e/edward-hirsch-1614_attention_i-don-t-think-poetry-will-die-but-i-thin_567274.png" --- > [I don't think poetry will die, but I think that poetry does demand a certain kind of attention to language. It does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-don-t-think-poetry-will-die-but-i-think-that-poetry-does-demand-a/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/edward-hirsch-1614_attention_i-don-t-think-poetry-will-die-but-i-thin_567274.png) > [There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world. In every culture, in every language there is expressive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-s-never-been-a-culture-without-poetry-in-the-history-of-the/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/edward-hirsch-1614_culture_there-s-never-been-a-culture-without-poe_905526.jpg) > [But, that was the beginning, though I didn't start writing until I was in high school and when I was in high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/but-that-was-the-beginning-though-i-didn-t-start-writing-until-i-was/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62f/edward-hirsch-1614_energy_but-that-was-the-beginning-though-i-didn_1762712.jpg) > [I have the idea that lyric poetry is a poetry that's driven by a sense of the presence of death. That there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-have-the-idea-that-lyric-poetry-is-a-poetry-that-s-driven-by-a/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3b/edward-hirsch-1614_childhood_i-have-the-idea-that-lyric-poetry-is-a-p_501947.png) > [I think it shapes it in very deep ways that you don't entirely understand. Rainer Maria Rilke said there are two inexhaustible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-it-shapes-it-in-very-deep-ways-that-you-don-t-entirely/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30f/edward-hirsch-1614_becoming_i-think-it-shapes-it-in-very-deep-ways-t_2956420.png) > [“Jonson wrote a poem and called his son His best piece of poetrie A lovely line a little loathsome I loved that…](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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/edward-hirsch-1614_poetry_jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-h_123808.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/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/edward-hirsch-1614_books_my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-p_1102889.png) > [One, something emotional has to be at stake. There has to be something important for me that I'm writing about. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/one-something-emotional-has-to-be-at-stake-there-has-to-be-something/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/edward-hirsch-1614_emotional_one-something-emotional-has-to-be-at-sta_786569.png) > [ She \[Carol Parsinan\] somehow read my poems and came back to me and convinced me that I could be a poet, that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/she-carol-parsinan-somehow-read-my-poems-and-came-back-to-me-and/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/edward-hirsch-1614_carols_she-carol-parsinan-somehow-read-my-poems_3055277.jpg) > [And Mandelstam says a poet - you go down to the shore and you see an unlikely looking from a bottle from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-mandelstam-says-a-poet-you-go-down-to-the-shore-and-you-see-an/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b96/edward-hirsch-1614_bottles_and-mandelstam-says-a-poet-you-go-down-t_743922.png) > [One of the things that distinguishes poetry from ordinary speech is that in a very few number of words, poetry captures some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-poetry-from-ordinary-speech-is/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/edward-hirsch-1614_communication_one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-poe_2981076.jpg) > [“Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). He even suggested that grievances, which are propagandistic, should be restricted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-between-grievances-complaints-and/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png) > [The idea of a poem as a message in a bottle means that it's sent out towards some future reader, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-idea-of-a-poem-as-a-message-in-a-bottle-means-that-it-s-sent-out/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/edward-hirsch-1614_becomes_the-idea-of-a-poem-as-a-message-in-a-bot_1278704.png) > [There are still many tribal cultures where poetry and song, there is just one word for them. There are other cultures with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-are-still-many-tribal-cultures-where-poetry-and-song-there-is/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/edward-hirsch-1614_always_there-are-still-many-tribal-cultures-whe_2169004.jpg) > [I've been fascinated over the years by the way refrains work. Think, say, of the refrains in Yeats' ballads. Ideally, each time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-ve-been-fascinated-over-the-years-by-the-way-refrains-work-think/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-hirsch-1614_back_i-ve-been-fascinated-over-the-years-by-t_1861404.png) > [Daydreaming is one of the key sources of poetry - a poem often starts as a daydream that finds its way into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/daydreaming-is-one-of-the-key-sources-of-poetry-a-poem-often-starts/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/edward-hirsch-1614_daydream_daydreaming-is-one-of-the-key-sources-of_1232260.png) > [There are many poets that use as my models. In my first book of poems, I had several for the "Sleepwalkers," I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-are-many-poets-that-use-as-my-models-in-my-first-book-of-poems/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/edward-hirsch-1614_alive_there-are-many-poets-that-use-as-my-mode_743675.png) > [So, the process of revision, it's not systematic. But for me, I mean, I know a lot of poets who write out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/so-the-process-of-revision-it-s-not-systematic-but-for-me-i-mean-i/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/edward-hirsch-1614_able_so-the-process-of-revision-it-s-not-syst_2166421.png) ## Other authors on Poetry - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-melody-lee-1672.jpg) Melody Lee 207 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/melody-lee/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 146 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-dejan-stojanovic-28518.jpg) Dejan Stojanovic 133 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/dejan-stojanovic/) - [ ![](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/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-alfa-h-4410.jpg) Alfa H 105 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/alfa-h/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-mary-oliver-65135.jpg) Mary Oliver 99 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/mary-oliver/) - [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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/edward-hirsch/#itemlist", "name": "Best Poetry Quotations by Edward Hirsch", "numberOfItems": 18, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't think poetry will die, but I think that poetry does demand a certain kind of attention to language. 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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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-s-never-been-a-culture-without-poetry-in-the-history-of-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/edward-hirsch-1614_culture_there-s-never-been-a-culture-without-poe_905526.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/edward-hirsch-1614_culture_there-s-never-been-a-culture-without-poe_905526.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/edward-hirsch-1614_culture_there-s-never-been-a-culture-without-poe_905526.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world. 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That there's something unbearable about the fact that we're going to die and that we can't stand it and I think you find that out in childhood and you don't really - at least I found it out in childhood and I found it hard to get over.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-have-the-idea-that-lyric-poetry-is-a-poetry-that-s-driven-by-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3b/edward-hirsch-1614_childhood_i-have-the-idea-that-lyric-poetry-is-a-p_501947.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3b/edward-hirsch-1614_childhood_i-have-the-idea-that-lyric-poetry-is-a-p_501947.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3b/edward-hirsch-1614_childhood_i-have-the-idea-that-lyric-poetry-is-a-p_501947.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have the idea that lyric poetry is a poetry that's driven by a sense of the presence of death. That…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think it shapes it in very deep ways that you don't entirely understand. Rainer Maria Rilke said there are two inexhaustible sources for poetry. One is dreams, and the other is childhood. I think childhood is an inexhaustible source of your becoming who you will be and certain deep feelings are set inside of you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-it-shapes-it-in-very-deep-ways-that-you-don-t-entirely/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30f/edward-hirsch-1614_becoming_i-think-it-shapes-it-in-very-deep-ways-t_2956420.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30f/edward-hirsch-1614_becoming_i-think-it-shapes-it-in-very-deep-ways-t_2956420.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30f/edward-hirsch-1614_becoming_i-think-it-shapes-it-in-very-deep-ways-t_2956420.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think it shapes it in very deep ways that you don't entirely understand. Rainer Maria Rilke said there are…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Jonson wrote a poem and called his son His best piece of poetrie A lovely line a little loathsome I loved that poem once He said we are lent our sons never take Too much pleasure in what you love”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-his-best-piece-of-poetrie-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/edward-hirsch-1614_poetry_jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-h_123808.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/edward-hirsch-1614_poetry_jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-h_123808.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/edward-hirsch-1614_poetry_jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-h_123808.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Jonson wrote a poem and called his son His best piece of poetrie A lovely line a little loathsome I loved…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My focus is on the reader and that the poet's job is not to inspire himself or herself. The poet's job is to inspire some future reader. And so, as a reader you have a task to do in finding those bottles and opening up the messages and experiencing what's in them inside of yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-poet-s-job-is-not-to-inspire/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/edward-hirsch-1614_books_my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-p_1102889.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/edward-hirsch-1614_books_my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-p_1102889.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/edward-hirsch-1614_books_my-focus-is-on-the-reader-and-that-the-p_1102889.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My focus is on the reader and that the poet's job is not to inspire himself or herself. The poet's job is to…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One, something emotional has to be at stake. There has to be something important for me that I'm writing about. And then two, I have to have a formal idea. Something has to be being worked out in poetry.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/one-something-emotional-has-to-be-at-stake-there-has-to-be-something/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/edward-hirsch-1614_emotional_one-something-emotional-has-to-be-at-sta_786569.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/edward-hirsch-1614_emotional_one-something-emotional-has-to-be-at-sta_786569.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/edward-hirsch-1614_emotional_one-something-emotional-has-to-be-at-sta_786569.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One, something emotional has to be at stake. 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Mandelstam says, \"It's okay to do so. I'm not reading someone else's mail. It was addressed to whoever found it. I found it, therefore it's addressed to me.\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-mandelstam-says-a-poet-you-go-down-to-the-shore-and-you-see-an/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b96/edward-hirsch-1614_bottles_and-mandelstam-says-a-poet-you-go-down-t_743922.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b96/edward-hirsch-1614_bottles_and-mandelstam-says-a-poet-you-go-down-t_743922.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b96/edward-hirsch-1614_bottles_and-mandelstam-says-a-poet-you-go-down-t_743922.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And Mandelstam says a poet - you go down to the shore and you see an unlikely looking from a bottle from the…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the things that distinguishes poetry from ordinary speech is that in a very few number of words, poetry captures some kind of deep feeling, and rhythm is the way to get there. Rhythm is the way the poetry carries itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-poetry-from-ordinary-speech-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/edward-hirsch-1614_communication_one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-poe_2981076.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/edward-hirsch-1614_communication_one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-poe_2981076.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/edward-hirsch-1614_communication_one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-poe_2981076.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One of the things that distinguishes poetry from ordinary speech is that in a very few number of words…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). He even suggested that grievances, which are propagandistic, should be restricted to prose, “leaving poetry free to go its way in tears.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-between-grievances-complaints-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). He even suggested…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The idea of a poem as a message in a bottle means that it's sent out towards some future reader, and the reader who opens that bottle becomes the addressee of the literary text.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-idea-of-a-poem-as-a-message-in-a-bottle-means-that-it-s-sent-out/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/edward-hirsch-1614_becomes_the-idea-of-a-poem-as-a-message-in-a-bot_1278704.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/edward-hirsch-1614_becomes_the-idea-of-a-poem-as-a-message-in-a-bot_1278704.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/edward-hirsch-1614_becomes_the-idea-of-a-poem-as-a-message-in-a-bot_1278704.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The idea of a poem as a message in a bottle means that it's sent out towards some future reader, and the…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-are-still-many-tribal-cultures-where-poetry-and-song-there-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/edward-hirsch-1614_always_there-are-still-many-tribal-cultures-whe_2169004.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/edward-hirsch-1614_always_there-are-still-many-tribal-cultures-whe_2169004.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/edward-hirsch-1614_always_there-are-still-many-tribal-cultures-whe_2169004.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are still many tribal cultures where poetry and song, there is just one word for them. There are other…” — Edward Hirsch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've been fascinated over the years by the way refrains work. Think, say, of the refrains in Yeats' ballads. Ideally, each time the refrain comes back in a poem, it is both the same and different. It works by counterpoint and reiteration. It accrues meaning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-ve-been-fascinated-over-the-years-by-the-way-refrains-work-think/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-hirsch-1614_back_i-ve-been-fascinated-over-the-years-by-t_1861404.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-hirsch-1614_back_i-ve-been-fascinated-over-the-years-by-t_1861404.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-hirsch-1614_back_i-ve-been-fascinated-over-the-years-by-t_1861404.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've been fascinated over the years by the way refrains work. 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In my first book of poems, I had several for the \"Sleepwalkers,\" I had several poems that were apprentice poems like this in which I take a walk with a poet who is no longer alive.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-are-many-poets-that-use-as-my-models-in-my-first-book-of-poems/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/edward-hirsch-1614_alive_there-are-many-poets-that-use-as-my-mode_743675.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/edward-hirsch-1614_alive_there-are-many-poets-that-use-as-my-mode_743675.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/edward-hirsch-1614_alive_there-are-many-poets-that-use-as-my-mode_743675.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are many poets that use as my models. 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I need to just continually examine it as I do it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Hirsch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/so-the-process-of-revision-it-s-not-systematic-but-for-me-i-mean-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/edward-hirsch-1614_able_so-the-process-of-revision-it-s-not-syst_2166421.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/edward-hirsch-1614_able_so-the-process-of-revision-it-s-not-syst_2166421.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/edward-hirsch-1614_able_so-the-process-of-revision-it-s-not-syst_2166421.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So, the process of revision, it's not systematic. 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