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

Quote by Howard Nemerov

Topics: Howard Nemerov Quotes

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...

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...

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

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

When you write it doesn't occur to you that somebody could think different from what...

When you write it doesn't occur to you that somebody could think different from what...

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...

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

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

For a Jewish Puritan of the middle class, the novel is serious, the novel is...

For a Jewish Puritan of the middle class, the novel is serious, the novel is...

The nice thing about the Bible is it doesn't give you too many facts. Two...

The nice thing about the Bible is it doesn't give you too many facts. Two...

I think there was a revolution in poetry, associated chiefly with Eliot and Pound; but...

I think there was a revolution in poetry, associated chiefly with Eliot and Pound; but...

It may be said that poems are in one way like icebergs: only about a...

It may be said that poems are in one way like icebergs: only about a...

When Robert Frost was alive, I was known as the other new England poet, which...

When Robert Frost was alive, I was known as the other new England poet, which...

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

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

I have a plot, but not much happens.

I have a plot, but not much happens.

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...

When modern writers gave up telling stories, they gave up the greatest thing we had.

When modern writers gave up telling stories, they gave up the greatest thing we had.

Language cares.

Language cares.

A lot happens by accident in poetry.

A lot happens by accident in poetry.

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,...

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.