It may be said that poems are in one way like icebergs: only about a third of their bulk appears above the surface of the page.

Quote by Howard Nemerov

Topics: Howard Nemerov Quotes

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...

Language cares.

Language cares.

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...

A chronicle is very different from history proper.

A chronicle is very different from history proper.

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...

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

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

The secrets of success are a good wife and a steady job. My wife told...

The secrets of success are a good wife and a steady job. My wife told...

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 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,...

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

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

A lot happens by accident in poetry.

A lot happens by accident in poetry.

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.

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 teacher is a person who never says anything once.

A teacher is a person who never says anything once.

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...

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 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 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...

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...

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...