A.R. Ammons: Quotes about the trip

A.R. Ammons was American poet. Explore interesting quotes on way.

A.R. Ammons: 34 quotes0 likes

“One can't
have it

both ways
and both

ways is
the only

way I
want it.”

“[On inspiration]: I think it comes from anxiety. That is to say, either the mind or the body is already rather highly charged and in need of some kind of expression, some way to crystallize and relieve the pressure. And it seems to me that if you’re in that condition and an idea, an insight, an association occurs to you, then that energy is released through the expression of that insight or idea, and after the poem is written, you feel a certain resolution and calmness. Well, I won’t say a “momentary stay against confusion” (Robert Frost’s phrase) but that’s what I mean. I think it comes from that. You know, Bloom says somewhere that poetry is anxiety.”

Paris Review interview (1996)

“SMALL SONG
The reeds give way to the wind
and give the wind away”

The Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons (1991)

“I couldn’t avoid being a poet. I was really having a pretty rough time of things, and I had a lot of energy, and poems were practically the only recourse I had to alleviate that energy and that anxiety. I take no credit for all the poems I’ve written. They were a way of releasing anxiety.”

Paris Review interview (1996)