I think one of the things that distinguished my work from the beginning when I was in college was my turning towards poetry from other countries. Edward Hirsch More Quotes by Edward Hirsch More Quotes From Edward Hirsch 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. Edward Hirsch grief sometimes children I think it's one of the things that drive lyric poetry, our sense of mortality. Edward Hirsch mortality lyric-poetry thinking Our sense that things are transient, that everything is passing and then if you want to save something from the endless flux of experience and the world's movement, you have to set down a stake and try and make something that will last. Edward Hirsch movement trying world I mean, when I was young I could write all through the night and I loved to work late into the night. Now that I'm older I work really well in the early morning when your synapses are firing a little better. But I work at different times of the day. Edward Hirsch writing morning mean After my grandfather died I went down to the basement of my family house where my family kept books, anthologies and things and there was an anthology without any names attached to it and I read a poem called Spellbound and I somehow attached it to my grandfather's death and I thought my grandfather had written it. Edward Hirsch names house book But, the best times I have found, in my life, are late at night or early in the morning and I think it's because you're outside the social realm. Edward Hirsch morning night thinking You're alone with yourself and your own feelings and that gives you deeper access to what you need to get in touch with to write poetry. Edward Hirsch feelings writing giving Now, the process of writing poetry is very messy. Not systematic, never quite the same Edward Hirsch systematic never-quit writing 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. Edward Hirsch poet students sometimes I guess that would have been 1968. I was a freshman in college and I wasn't writing good poems, but I was at least trying to write poems then. Edward Hirsch college writing trying I started then to try and shape something rather than just express it and when I started to shape something and to imitate other poems that were written by other people, when I had tried to integrate my reading and my writing I was on my path. Edward Hirsch reading writing people A stress on the system and I think a painful thing for many young poets who are looking to find a life in poetry that they're not going to be able to find. Edward Hirsch able stress thinking 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. Edward Hirsch dark writing thinking I just think that limits the kinds of experiences that people can have with poetry. But, poetry will survive; I don't worry about that. But, I do think that it may save fewer souls if people can't pay attention. Edward Hirsch worry people thinking It does demand a certain space in order to read it and I think that space is somewhat threatened by the lack of attention that people have and the amount of time that they give to things. Edward Hirsch space order thinking I don't think poetry will die, but I think that poetry does demand a certain kind of attention to language. Edward Hirsch doe attention thinking I think poetry will survive and I don't think it will be the end of poetry. Our tremendous onslaught of mass media all the time that we're suffering and we don't really know how to think about, I think that puts certain things at risk. Edward Hirsch risk media thinking There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world. 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. Edward Hirsch different play culture The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk, not just poetry. Edward Hirsch risk america thinking So, the process of revision, it's not systematic. But for me, I mean, I know a lot of poets who write out a draft and then revise it and I think they're happier people. But, I'm just not able to do it that way. I need to just continually examine it as I do it. Edward Hirsch writing mean thinking
