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 So, some of the most difficult formal poems that I've written, say one sentence sonnets, I've been able to do those fairly quickly whereas some of the clearest, simplest lyrics that I've written have taken me the longest to get to the clarity of feeling that you're looking for. Edward Hirsch able taken feelings And when I'm writing well and when I'm inside the feeling, then I can do fairly complicated things with some fluency. Edward Hirsch fluency feelings writing The mysterious thing about writing poetry is that when you're - when things are going poorly, when you're not thinking well, even making two sentences together is extremely hard and I just can't make the connections. Edward Hirsch mysterious-things writing thinking When I was a freshman in college I went to Grinnell College in Iowa. I brought my poems to my freshman humanities teacher whose name was Carol Parsinan, a wonderful teacher. And Carol did a really great thing for me. She taught me more than anyone. Edward Hirsch iowa college teacher She [Carol Parsinan] somehow read my poems and came back to me and convinced me that I could be a poet, that I had the passion and the enthusiasm and the creativity to become a poet, but that what I was writing was not poetry because I was just expressing my feelings and I wasn't try to make anything. Edward Hirsch creativity passion writing Sometimes I have a feeling that I just can't get rid of. Sometimes there's an experience that I want to write about that I have to get off my chest. Sometimes there are some words that appeal to you. Edward Hirsch want feelings writing 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. Edward Hirsch us rhythm sound way Daydreaming is one of the key sources of poetry - a poem often starts as a daydream that finds its way into language - and walking seems to bring a different sort of alertness, an associative kind of thinking, a drifting state of mind. Edward Hirsch poetry mind walking thinking As soon as something happens to us in America, everyone begins talking about healing. But before you heal, you have to mourn. Edward Hirsch you healing talking america Our culture has become increasingly intolerant of that acute sorrow, that intense mental anguish and deep remorse which may be defined as grief. We want to medicate such sorrow away. Edward Hirsch deep grief want culture One of the things that happens to everyone who is grief-stricken, who has lost someone, is there comes a time when everyone else just wants you to get over it, but of course you don't get over it. You get stronger; you try and live on; you endure; you change; but you don't get over it. You carry it with you. Edward Hirsch live you change time The elegy does the work of mourning; it allows us to experience mortality. It turns loss into remembrance, and it delivers an inheritance. Edward Hirsch us experience loss work 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. Edward Hirsch feeling poetry soul night I found a comfort in trying to solve some poetic problems because there were human ones I just couldn't solve. Edward Hirsch problems some comfort trying As long as there's been poetry, there have been lamentations. Edward Hirsch been poetry long 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. Edward Hirsch think me poetry thinking Poets have always celebrated grief as one of the deepest human emotions. Edward Hirsch emotions human always grief James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are precise and elegant; he has a splendid New York accent; he runs his hands through his gray hair and laughs boyishly. Edward Hirsch new hair manners hands Poetry takes place in time. It is a durational. Things take place in sequence. Edward Hirsch place things poetry time I'm a poet, and I spent my life in poetry. Edward Hirsch my-life poet poetry life
