“The sense of flowing, which is so crucial to song, is also crucial to ...” — Edward Hirsch Quote

“The sense of flowing, which is so crucial to song, is also crucial to poetry.”

“Rhythm is sound in motion. It is related to the pulse, the heartbeat, the way we breathe. It rises and falls. It takes us into ourselves; it takes us out of ourselves.”

“The sole literary presence from my childhood was my grandfather, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia, who eccentrically copied poems into the backs of his books. After he died, when I was 8 years old, my grandmother gave his books away, and his poems were lost.”

“The very essence of I is being killed by You.”

“Talent is a faucet. When it is on, one must write. Inspiration is a farce that poets have invented to give themselves importance.”

“Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay.”