I sometimes talk about the making of a poem within the poem.

Quote by Howard Nemerov

Topics: Howard Nemerov Quotes

I never abandoned either forms or freedom. I imagine that most of what could be...

I never abandoned either forms or freedom. I imagine that most of what could be...

Language cares.

Language cares.

Language is remarkable, except under the extreme constraints of mathematics and logic, it never can...

Language is remarkable, except under the extreme constraints of mathematics and logic, it never can...

History is one of those marvelous and necessary illusions we have to deal with. It's...

History is one of those marvelous and necessary illusions we have to deal with. It's...

I am not at all clear what free verse is anymore. That's one of the...

I am not at all clear what free verse is anymore. That's one of the...

The spirit world doesn't admit to communicating with me, so it's fairly even.

The spirit world doesn't admit to communicating with me, so it's fairly even.

The historian is terribly responsible to what he can discern are the facts of the...

The historian is terribly responsible to what he can discern are the facts of the...

When I was starting to write, the great influence was T.S. Eliot and after that...

When I was starting to write, the great influence was T.S. Eliot and after that...

I liked the kid who wrote me that he had to do a term paper...

I liked the kid who wrote me that he had to do a term paper...

Occasionally a student writer comes up with something really beautiful and moving, and you won't...

Occasionally a student writer comes up with something really beautiful and moving, and you won't...

Robert Frost had always said you mustn't think of the last line first, or it's...

Robert Frost had always said you mustn't think of the last line first, or it's...

Mostly the thought and the verse come inseparably. In my poem Poetics, it's as close...

Mostly the thought and the verse come inseparably. In my poem Poetics, it's as close...

Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, they say, forgetful of...

Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, they say, forgetful of...

Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.

Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.

I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.

I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.

Once in awhile you have a thought, and you rhyme it.

Once in awhile you have a thought, and you rhyme it.

Shakespeare tells the same stories over and over in so many guises that it takes...

Shakespeare tells the same stories over and over in so many guises that it takes...

I think there's one thing which distinguishes our art - we don't consider. We don't...

I think there's one thing which distinguishes our art - we don't consider. We don't...

I like all my children, even the squat and ugly ones.

I like all my children, even the squat and ugly ones.

I've thought of the last line of some poems for years and tried them out,...

I've thought of the last line of some poems for years and tried them out,...