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Quote by Michael Longley

“Every Monday morning I try to remember to say "Thank you, Lord. I'm not at the Senior Staff Meeting."”

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Michael Longley is an Irish poet born on July 27, 1939. His poetry is known for its profound humanistic concern and delicate portrayal of nature, featuring unique style and beautiful language. more

“In America, where you'd have thought the country's so huge it couldn't happen quite so cosily, everyone's giving his imprimatur to everyone else. You line up three or four well-known poets and a couple of eminent academics on the dustjacket, and the rest of academe follow like sheep. That's death really, if you take pleasure in it. Mind you, the occasional puff's hard to resist, but you shouldn't inhale.”

Ifs Giving Mind Wells Country Hard Happens America Three Lines Pleasure Known Four Poet Huge Couple Sheep Well Known Occasional Puff Inhale

Author:Michael Longley

“I'm not against ambition and reach, but if you can say it in four lines, why waste your time saying it in more? Challenge the world by all means, but it's bad for your poetry to take steroids.”

Ifs World Mean Challenges Lines Four Waste Ambition Steroid

Author:Michael Longley

“I don't know where the shape of a poem comes from. I certainly don't impose it. I write out of a jumble of emotions and vague notions and scraps of knowledge. At some stage a form or, rather, a shape mysteriously emerges.”

Knows Writing Form Emotion Stage Shapes Notion Vague Scrap

Author:Michael Longley

“I'm not the kind of poet who arranges treasure-hunts to please the academics and keep them busy. Poetry should be surprising in deeper ways.”

Way Should Kind Poet Please Busy Deeper Treasure Surprising Hunts Treasure Hunt

Author:Michael Longley

Quote by Michael Longley

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