“born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?”
The Book of Light (1993), "song at midnight", lines 17–19
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Lucille Clifton10
American poet 1936–2010Related quotes
“Getting a lecture on restraint from the woman who threw a hissy fit and blew up Babylon.”
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: Magic Bleeds
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate
"A Speech at Berkeley on Vietnam Day"
Cannibals and Christians (1966)
“I still think too much about the mothers
And ask what is man born of woman.”
Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator
"Preparation," trans. Czesław Miłosz and Robert Hass
Unattainable Earth (1986)
Context: I still think too much about the mothers
And ask what is man born of woman.
He curls himself up and protects his head
While he is kicked by heavy boots; on fire and running,
He burns with bright flame; a bulldozer sweeps him into a clay pit.
Her child. Embracing a teddy bear. Conceived in ecstasy.
Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) British preacher, author, pastor and evangelist
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 490.
“Guess the world needs both sun
And the moon too
Sad with what I have except for you.”
Rufus Wainwright (1973) American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer
Sad With What I Have
Song lyrics, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)
“Curst Love! what lengths of tyrant scorn
Wreak'st not on those of woman born?”
John Conington (1825–1869) British classical scholar
Source: Translations, The Aeneid of Virgil (1866), Book IV, p. 127
