Richard Wilbur quotes

Richard Wilbur was an American poet and translator, celebrated for his mastery of formal verse and eloquent language. His work contributed greatly to American literature, earning numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize. He is remembered as one of the most distinguished poets of his generation. Here are 34 of his quotes:

What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you. (Richard Wilbur)
It is true that the poet does not directly address his neighbors; but he does address a great congress of persons who dwell at the back of his mind, a congress of all those who have taught him and whom he has admired; that constitute his ideal audience and his better self. View quote
Richard Wilbur
What you hope for Is that at some point of the pointless journey, Indoors or out, and when you least expect it, Right in the middle of your stride, like that, So neatly that you never feel a thing, The kind assassin Sleep will draw a bead And blow your brains out. View quote
Richard Wilbur
A thrush, because I'd been wrong, Burst rightly into song In a world not vague, not lonely, Not governed by me only. View quote
Richard Wilbur
The soul descends once more in bitter love To accept the waking body. View quote
Richard Wilbur
Last night I saw the grass Slowly divide (it was the same scene But now it glowed a fierce and mortal green) And saw the dog emerging. View quote
Richard Wilbur
O connoisseurs of thirst, Beasts of my soul who long to learn to drink Of pure mirage, those prosperous islands are accurst That shimmer on the brink Of absence; auras, lustres, And all shinings need to be shaped and borne. View quote
Richard Wilbur
Wisely watch for the sight Of the supernova burgeoning over the barn, Lampshine blurred in the steam of beasts, the spirit's right Oasis, light incarnate. View quote
Richard Wilbur
The beacon-blaze unsheathing turns The face of darkness pale And now with one grand chop gives clearance to Our human visions... View quote
Richard Wilbur
Well, I was ten and very much afraid. In my kind world the dead were out of range And I could not forgive the sad or strange In beast or man. View quote
Richard Wilbur
Writing poetry is talking to oneself; yet it is a mode of talking to oneself in which the self disappears; and the products something that, though it may not be for everybody, is about everybody. (Richard Wilbur)
Now they are rising together in calm swells Of halcyon feeling, filling whatever they wear With the deep joy of their impersonal breathing... View quote
Richard Wilbur
Founded on rock and facing the night-fouled sea A beacon blinks at its own brilliance, Over and over with cutlass gaze Solving the Gordian waters ... View quote
Richard Wilbur
Outside the open window The morning air is all awash with angels. View quote
Richard Wilbur
Most women know that sex isgood for headaches. View quote
Richard Wilbur
To this congress the poet speaks not of peculiar and personal things, but of what in himself is most common, most anonymous, most fundamental, most true of all men. View quote
Richard Wilbur
Your hands hold roses always in a way that says They are not only yours. View quote
Richard Wilbur
The relation between the artist and reality is an oblique one, and indeed there is no good art which is not consciously oblique. If you respect the reality of the world, you know that you can approach that reality only by indirect means. View quote
Richard Wilbur
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. View quote
Richard Wilbur
My dog lay dead five days without a grave In the thick of summer, hid in a clump of pine And a jungle of grass and honey-suckle vine. View quote
Richard Wilbur
Try to remember this: what you project Is what you will perceive; what you perceive With any passion, be it love or terror, May take on whims and powers of its own. (Richard Wilbur)
Writing poetry, then, is an unsocial way of manufacturing a thoroughly social product. View quote
Richard Wilbur
I dreamt the past was never past redeeming: But whether this was false or honest dreaming I beg death's pardon now. And mourn the dead. View quote
Richard Wilbur
The soul shrinks From all that it is about to remember, From the punctual rape of every blessed day. View quote
Richard Wilbur
They are slow, proud, And move with a stilted stride To the land of sheer horizon... View quote
Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur - Image
Occupation: American Poet
Born: March 1, 1921
Died: October 14, 2017
Quotes count: 34
Wikipedia: Richard Wilbur

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