“Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills.”

— William Empson

"Missing Dates", line 12; cited from John Haffenden (ed.) The Complete Poems (London: Allen Lane, 2000) p. 79.
The Complete Poems

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William Empson 25

English literary critic and poet 1906–1984

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“Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills.”

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