“I prefer the absurdity of writing poems
to the absurdity of not writing poems.”
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) Polish writer
Source: Nothing Twice: Selected Poems
“Is It Possible to Write a Poem?,” p. 111
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “Is It Possible to Write a Poem”
“I prefer the absurdity of writing poems
to the absurdity of not writing poems.”
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) Polish writer
Source: Nothing Twice: Selected Poems
“…whether they write poems or don’t write poems, poets are best.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) poet, critic, novelist, essayist
“Recent Poetry”, p. 227
Kipling, Auden & Co: Essays and Reviews 1935-1964 (1980)
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) poet, critic, novelist, essayist
"Answers to Questions," from Mid-Century American Poets, edited by John Ciardi, 1950 [p. 171]
Kipling, Auden & Co: Essays and Reviews 1935-1964 (1980)
Carl Andre (1935) American artist
Quote from a 1962 essay by Andre; as quoted in ' Objects Are What We Aren't' https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/02/26/objects-are-what-we-arent/, by Andy Battaglia; The Parish Review, February 26, 2015
“He who would write heroic poems should make his whole life a heroic poem.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
Life of Schiller.
1820s, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855)
“To write good poems is the secret of brevity.”
Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman
Simplicity http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/21390/Simplicity <br class="br">From the poems written in English
“It takes a spasm of love to write a poem.”
Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic
How to Save Your Own Life (1977)
“We are all writing God's poem.”
Anne Sexton (1928–1974) poet from the United States
As quoted by Erica Jong, in "Into the lion's den" in The Guardian (26 October 2000) http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2000/oct/26/features11.g2
Richard Wilbur (1921–2017) American poet
National Book Award Acceptance Speech (1957)
Context: When a poet is being a poet — that is, when he is writing or thinking about writing — he cannot be concerned with anything but the making of a poem. If the poem is to turn out well, the poet cannot have thought of whether it will be saleable, or of what its effect on the world should be; he cannot think of whether it will bring him honor, or advance a cause, or comfort someone in sorrow. All such considerations, whether silly or generous, would be merely intrusive; for, psychologically speaking, the end of writing is the poem itself.