I am not at all clear what free verse is anymore. That's one of the things you learn not to know.

Quote by Howard Nemerov

Topics: Howard Nemerov Quotes

We're not in love with Literature all the time - especially when you have to...

We're not in love with Literature all the time - especially when you have to...

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...

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...

Obvious enough that generalities work to protect the mind from the great outdoors; is it...

Obvious enough that generalities work to protect the mind from the great outdoors; is it...

I do insist on making what I hope is sense so there's always a coherent...

I do insist on making what I hope is sense so there's always a coherent...

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.

A lot happens by accident in poetry.

A lot happens by accident in poetry.

I have a plot, but not much happens.

I have a plot, but not much happens.

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...

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

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

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

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

Language cares.

Language cares.

A chronicle is very different from history proper.

A chronicle is very different from history proper.

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...

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...

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...

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...

I've never read a political poem that's accomplished anything. Poetry makes things happen, but rarely...

I've never read a political poem that's accomplished anything. Poetry makes things happen, but rarely...

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.