Edward Hirsch

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. ”

The very good thing about MFA programs is their democratizing. They bring a lot of different people to the table. ”

I still feel that I'm capable of being as emotionally present as when I was young. ”

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

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. ”

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. ”

As soon as something happens to us in America, everyone begins talking about healing. But before you heal, you have to mourn. ”

Depression is a feeling without a cause. Mourning has a cause. ”

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

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. ”