“The soul has no assignments, neither cooks
Nor referees: it wastes its time.”

— Randall Jarrell

"A Girl in a Library," lines 32-29
The Seven-League Crutches (1951)
Context: The soul has no assignments, neither cooks
Nor referees: it wastes its time. It wastes its time.
Here in this enclave there are centuries
For you to waste: the short and narrow stream
Of life meanders into a thousand valleys
Of all that was, or might have been, or is to be.
The books, just leafed through, whisper endlessly.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Randall Jarrell215

poet, critic, novelist, essayist 1914–1965

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