10 Great Quotes About Poetry by C.D. Wright

~ Paul Szlosek

“Poetry is the language of intensity. Because we are going to die, an expression of intensity is justified.”

“Poetry requires deliberate movement in its direction, a filament of faith in its persistence, receptivity to its fundamental worthwhileness. Within its unanesthetized heart there is quite a racket going on. Choices have to be made with respect to every mark. Not every mistake should be erased. Nor shall the unintelligible be left out. Order is there to be wrenched from the tangles of words. Results are impossible to measure. A clearing is drawn around the perimeter as if by a stick with a nail on the end.”

“It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside us that would be free, and declare them so.”

“Poetry and advertising (the basest mode of which is propaganda) are in direct and total opposition. If you do not use language you are used by it.”

“Poetry helps us to suffer more efficiently.”

“Uniformity, in its motives, its goals, its far-ranging consequences, is the natural enemy of poetry, not to mention the enemy of trees, the soil, the exemplary life therein.”

“I am suggesting that the radical of poetry lies not in the resolution of doubts but in their proliferation.”

“Poetry takes you into the recesses of the language, the neglected corners, cracks and crannies and to the big sky of wonder. It opens the door to a critique without which you have rather boring analytical tools by comparison. To cultivate poetry means to stay with it. Not to abandon hope, but to abide.”

“Readers have to be sought out and won to the light of the page, poem by poem, one by one by one.”

“Poetry seems especially like nothing else so much as itself. Poetry is not like, it is the very lining of the inner life.”

—C.D. Wright

Published by Paul Szlosek

Paul Szlosek was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts, but currently resides in the nearby metropolis of Worcester. He was co-founder and host of the long-running Poet’s Parlor poetry reading in Southbridge and Sturbridge, as well as a past recipient of the Jacob Knight Award for Poetry. His poems have appeared in various local publications including the Worcester Review, Worcester Magazine, Sahara, Concrete Wolf, and Diner. He’s probably best known in the Worcester poetry community for his fanatical obsession with obscure poetry forms, and has invented his own including the ziggurat, the streetbeatina, and (most recently) the hodgenelle.

20 thoughts on “10 Great Quotes About Poetry by C.D. Wright”

  2. Another wonderful selection of quotes from a great poet. Her books “Shallcross” and “Tremble” are pulled from my shelves frequently to renew my own creativity and spirit. Thank you for sharing her unique spirit and words, Paul!

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  3. Wow, thanks Paul
    The first and last quotes are extremely effective!
    I love it, I wrote to a friend and I did not resist the temptation to communicate to him the first in my letter;)
    Thank you Paul it’s so beautiful.
    Kisses
    Corinne

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  5. This quote in particular resonated with me. It’s true now more than ever. We ignore its truth at our peril.

    “Poetry and advertising (the basest mode of which is propaganda) are in direct and total opposition. If you do not use language you are used by it.”

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    1. Thank you, Liz! I am so pleased to hear that that quote resonated with you as much as it did with me. She had so many wonderful quotes, I almost left that one out, so hearing from you makes me so pleased that I didn’t.It just seemed so relevant especially now in these crazy times…

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  6. “To suffer more efficiently”–now, that’s a good one…’specially for many this past year. Thanks for another great post, Paul–may you have a much-blessed Christmas and New Year’s!

    Liked by 1 person

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