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Dana Gioia

Dana Gioia Quotes

Poet

Dana Gioia, born on December 24, 1950, is an accomplished American poet known for his profound emotions and rich imagination in his works.

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Famous Dana Gioia Quotes

“Once an author finishes a poem, he becomes merely another reader. I may remember what I intended to put into a text, but what matters is what a reader actually finds there which is usually something both more and less than the poet planned.”

May Matter Remember Poet Reader What Matters

Author:Dana Gioia

“Twisting through the thorn-thick underbrush, scratched and exhausted, one turns suddenly to find an unexpected waterfall, not half a mile from the nearest road, a spot so hard to reach that no one comes a hiding place, a shrine for dragonflies and nesting jays, a sign that there is still one piece of property that won't be owned.”

Stills Hard Turns Half Pieces Property Miles Spots Unexpected Hiding Thick Exhausted One Piece Shrines Waterfalls Hiding Place Dragonflies

Book:99 Poems: New & Selected

Source: 99 Poems: New & Selected

“Poetry speaks most effectively and inclusively (whether in free or formal verse) when it recognizes its connection - without apology - to its musical and ritualistic origins.”

Art Poetry Speak Connections Musical Apology Verses Formal

Author:Dana Gioia

“Poetry offers a way of understanding and expressing existence that is fundamentally different from conceptual thought.”

Way Art Different Poetry Understanding Existence Offers

Author:Dana Gioia

“Even if great poetry continues to be written, it has retreated from the center of literary life. Though supported by a loyal coterie, poetry has lost the confidence that it speaks to and for the general culture.”

Ifs Culture Lost Speak Written Loyal Great Poet Great Poetry

Book:Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

Source: Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

“It seems to me that awakening to the full potential of what your life might be - beyond the possibilities of your own family, your own class, your own race, your own neighborhood - that is one of the great gifts that art affords.”

Art Seems Might Race Class Possibility Awakening Neighborhood Full Potential Great Gifts

Author:Dana Gioia

“Everyone enjoys stories of double lives and secret identities. Children have Superman; intellectuals have Wallace Stevens.”

Children Stories Enjoy Secret Identity Double Life Secret Identity

Book:Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

Source: Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

“And hate the bright stillness of the noon without wind, without motion. the only other living thing a hawk, hungry for prey, suspended in the blinding, sunlit blue. And yet how gentle it seems to someone raised in a landscape short of rain- the skyline of a hill broken by no more trees than one can count, the grass, the empty sky, the wish for water.”

Seems Hate Wish Water Tree Sky Wind Broken Summer Rain Empty Blue Raised Hungry Hills Landscape Gentle Grass Stillness Prey Living Things Noon Suspended Hawks Skylines

Book:99 Poems: New & Selected

Source: 99 Poems: New & Selected

About the Author

Born: December 24, 1950
Known for: Poet
Quotes: 58

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Poetry Art Poetry Quotes Literature Catholic Literature Catholic Writers Verse Catholic Names Poet

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

99 Poems: New & SelectedRelated source material

The Catholic Writer Today: And Other EssaysRelated source material

Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American CultureRelated source material

Poetry as EnchantmentRelated source material

Barrier of a common language: an American looks at contemporary British poetryRelated source material

Daily Horoscope: PoemsRelated source material

Interrogations at Noon: PoemsRelated source material

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