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Quote by Jane Hirshfield

“A poem can use anything to talk about anything.”

Author

Jane Hirshfield is an American poet known for her concise and profound poetry. Born on February 24, 1953, she has gained widespread recognition in the literary world since the 1980s. more

“Though I am never exactly "blocked" I do have difficult periods. I am led by a fascination with material - the challenge of presenting it in an original and engaging way. I have no problem imagining stories, characters, distinctive settings & themes - but the difficulty is choosing a voice & a language in which to present it.”

“Characters begin as voices, then gain presence by being viewed in others' eyes. Characters define one another in dramatic contexts. It is often very exciting, when characters meet - out of their encounters, unanticipated stories can spring.”

Character Stories Eye Voice Spring Gains Exciting Dramatic Encounters

Author:Joyce Carol Oates

“One recurring dream, many others have also: you go into a familiar house, discover a door or hallway, and find the house continues into hidden rooms. Sometimes a whole second house is there, a larger and unknown extension of the familiar dwelling.”

Sometimes Whole Dream House Rooms Doors Familiar Extensions Dwelling Hallways Recurring Recurring Dreams

Author:Jane Hirshfield

“Before I undertake a lengthy project, I have usually given much thought to it over a period of years. My files are filled with likely subjects - which perhaps, one day, I will develop.”

Years Given Subjects Periods One Day Projects Filled Files Lengthy

Author:Joyce Carol Oates

“I will never become a horse trainer, a biologist, a person competent with a hammer. My loves were my loves.”

Persons Horse Hammers Competent Trainers Biologist

Author:Jane Hirshfield

“At another level, though, poems can craft an eraser - we can't revise the past, but poems allow us some malleability, an increased freedom of response, comprehension, feeling. Choice, what choices are possible for any given person, is another theme that's run through my work from the start.”

Persons Feelings Running Past Choices Given Levels Response Crafts Theme Comprehension Erasers

Author:Jane Hirshfield

“So much of our lives depends on accidents of birth, time, and geography. This haunts me. In some lives, few "or"s are possible. The pain of that is behind the second stanza of this poem.”

Pain Behinds Our Lives Depends Birth Accidents Geography

Author:Jane Hirshfield

“I'd say that the middle stanza is closer: that's the place where the poem ranges unexpectedly into a different realm.”

Different Middle Range Realms

Author:Jane Hirshfield

“Time-awareness does indeed watermark my books and my life.”

Doe Book Awareness

Author:Jane Hirshfield

Quote by Jane Hirshfield

Author

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