Edward Hirsch

You're trying to write about something that's sacred. You're trying to bring the seriousness of life and death to it, and you're trying to find a way to dramatize it, and you're trying to give language to it, which is inadequate. But it's important to try. ”

Writing poetry is such an intense experience that it helps to start the process in a casual or wayward frame of mind. ”

I love the leisurely amplitude, the spaciousness, of taking a walk, of heading somewhere, anywhere, on foot. I love the sheer adventure of it: setting out and taking off. ”

Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel. ”

There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world. ”

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 always delighted in the company of the poets I've read. ”

Poetry itself hasn't been well served by poets who fled to the margins. ”

Rhythm is sound in motion. It is related to the pulse, the heartbeat, the way we breathe. It rises and falls. It takes us into ourselves; it takes us out of ourselves. ”

I don't think you can read poetry while you're watching television very well. ”

There are a lot of poems where I am questing for God. I don't think there is any finding of God. ”