Rita Dove Quotes & Sayings (Page 3)

“To practice your scales, so to speak, in order play the symphony, is what you have to do as a young poet.”

“I make a discovery in a poem as I write it.”

“My father is a chemist, my mother was a homemaker. My parents instilled in us the feeling that learning was the most exciting thing that could happen to you, and it never ends.”

“Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail. In order to convey things accurately, the human being is almost forced to find the most precise words possible, which is a precondition for literature.”

“One definition of eternity is that we are not alone on this planet, that there are those who've gone before and those who will come, and that there is a community of spirits.”

“I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.”

“In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover things.”

“For many years, I thought a poem was a whisper overheard, not an aria heard.”

“I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I think I loved literature more.”

“I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry.”