Become Quote by Helen Vendler

You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.

— Helen Vendler

A poem, once it's written, is meant to be read with the inner voice of the person who reads it.

— Tony Harrison

A poem, necessarily, sits at a register that's different from our usual conversational voices. You have to listen more actively to get to the…

— Tracy K. Smith

Every time you read a poem aloud to yourself in the presence of others, you are reading it into yourself and them. Voice helps…

— Seamus Heaney

A poem is like a score for the human voice.

— Li-Young Lee

Poetry is a vocal art for me - but not necessarily a performative one. It might be reading to oneself or recalling some lines…

— Robert Pinsky

And the poem, I think, is only your voice speaking.

— Virginia Woolf

There's always an added element of a poem when it's read aloud because then you can really hear the rhythm, and the cadence, and…

— Masiela Lusha

The poetry I love is written with someone's voice and I believe its proper culmination is to be read with someone's voice. And the…

— Robert Pinsky

I think many poets, including myself, write both for the voice and for the page. I certainly write for the person alone in the…

— Adrienne Rich

Poetry is an art spoken, as if sung, in relation to other human beings.

— David Biespiel

Poetry is the voice of the soul, whispering, celebrating, singing, even.

— Carolyn Forche