Stephen Burt Quote: "Durable, memorable poetry is usually alert to ..." | QuoteForever

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Choose a background or upload your own photo, then download a shareable quote image.

Upload background image Your file stays in the browser; nothing is sent to the server.

Quote

Durable, memorable poetry is usually alert to complexity. A really good poem gives you a reason to read it 20 times, because the language in a good poem is doing a lot of work emotionally and a lot of work intellectually. That means durable poetry can help us think about complexity, can help us resist easy answers and help us step back. And it can help us sometimes calm down, and sometimes it can help us stay upset.
Stephen Burt / Poet
Mean
Memorable
Thinking
Copy Quote

Only Text Quote

Durable, memorable poetry is usually alert to complexity. A really good poem gives you a reason to read it 20 times, because the language in a good poem is doing a lot of work emotionally and a lot of work intellectually. That means durable poetry can help us think about complexity, can help us resist easy answers and help us step back. And it can help us sometimes calm down, and sometimes it can help us stay upset.
⇛ Stephen Burt (Poet)

Copy Quote Text

To do a poem justice, explain what makes it unique; to get a poem noticed, explain what makes it typical.

Stephen Burt Poet

One chance, One life. Make it or screw it up, it's your choice. Don't wait to long or your time will be up.

Stephen Burt Poet

Some poets marry a language; some have affairs with it; some treat it as a parent, some as a child, some as an equal, or as a friend.

Stephen Burt Poet

Powell belongs, in fact to the first generation of American poets who may have grown up without even a vestigial connection to the accentual-syllabic, rhyming English tradition - his inventive lines have this absence at their back.

Stephen Burt Poet

If we want to change existing conditions, we must first transform ourselves, which means that we must become aware of our own actions, thoughts and feelings in everyday life.

Jiddu Krishnamurti Writer

Dreams say what they mean, but they don't say it in daytime language.

Gail Godwin Novelist

I think there can always be beauty in struggle. I mean, as far as childbirth, I had my son in the hospital, but then I had my daughter at home. There's no doubt that there's a struggling in birth, and a beauty and a horror and fear and joy too.

Patricia Arquette Film Actress

If then the prosperity of the commercial classes, will most certainly lead to accumulation of capital, and the encouragement of productive industry; these can by no means be so surely obtained as by a fall in the price of corn.

David Ricardo Economist

The southern white Baptists now want to integrate with the black Baptist church. I say that would be the end of it. In the first place, most white southern Baptists can't preach, their intentions are not that good and we make a different joyful noise unto the Lord than white people. When we say, "Lord Jesus, personal savior", we may not mean the same thing as what they mean.

John Henrik Clarke Writer

Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learning a new language, picking up a new sport. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it's a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means that you will do something new, meet someone new, and make a difference in your life. Yes lets you stand out in a crowd, be the optimist, to stay positive, be the one everyone comes to. Yes is what keeps us all young.

Eric Schmidt Software Engineer

More by Stephen Burt All Mean quotes

Top Authors

Edgar Allan Poe
Author
Thursday, Jan 19, 1809
Sunday, Oct 07, 1849
Henry David Thoreau
Author
Saturday, Jul 12, 1817
Tuesday, May 06, 1862
Steven Wright
Comedian
Tuesday, Dec 06, 1955
Pope Francis
Thursday, Dec 17, 1936
Barack Obama
44Th U.s. President
Friday, Aug 04, 1961
Joe Biden
Vice President Of The United States
Friday, Nov 20, 1942
Niccolo Machiavelli
Historian
Monday, May 03, 1469
Tuesday, Jun 21, 1527
John Locke
Philosopher
Sunday, Aug 29, 1632
Tuesday, Oct 28, 1704
Sun Tzu
Strategist
Thursday, Jan 01, 1970
Thursday, Jan 01, 1970
Lucy Larcom
Poet
Friday, Mar 05, 1824
Monday, Apr 17, 1893
Dr. Seuss
Writer
Wednesday, Mar 02, 1904
Tuesday, Sep 24, 1991
Julius Caesar
Roman Dictator
Thursday, Jan 01, 1970
Zig Ziglar
Author
Saturday, Nov 06, 1926
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012
Napoleon Bonaparte
Military Commander
Tuesday, Aug 15, 1769
Saturday, May 05, 1821
Yogi Berra
Baseball Manager
Tuesday, May 12, 1925
Tuesday, Sep 22, 2015

View All Authors

Share This Page