Karl Shapiro
Karl Shapiro
Karl Jay Shapirowas an American poet. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1946...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth10 November 1913
CountryUnited States of America
wise unique doe
Poetry is innocent, not wise. It does not learn from experience, because each poetic experience is unique.
way poetry-is seeing
Poetry is not a way of saying things; it's a way of seeing things.
poet chairs
Keelhaul the poets in the vestry chairs.
dream sleep gold
Lawyers love paper. They eat, sleep and dream paper. They turn paper into gold, and their files are colorful and their language neoclassical and calli-graphically bewigged.
two-sides answers maxims
The proverbist knows nothing of the two sides of a question. He knows only the roundness of answers.
war excuse crusades
Every war is its own excuse. That's why they're all surrounded with ideals. That's why they're all crusades.
funeral devil flags
Haul up the flag, you mourners, Not half-mast but all the way; The funeral is done and disbanded; The devil's had the final say.
children hate crime
To make the child in your own image is a capital crime, for your image is not worth repeating. The child knows this and you know it. Consequently you hate each other.
father giving body
The body, what is it, Father, but a sign To love the force that grows us, to give back What in Thy palm is senselessness and mud?
real race hands
The good poet sticks to his real loves, to see within the realm of possibility. He never tries to hold hands with God or the human race.
innocence innocent unspoken
Already old, the question Who shall die? Becomes unspoken Who is innocent?
happiness laughter grief
Laughter and grief join hands. Always the heart Clumps in the breast with heavy stride; The face grows lined and wrinkled like a chart, The eyes bloodshot with tears and tide. Let the wind blow, for many a man shall die.
voice soul provincetown
Leo Connellan has retained his soul and voice in Provincetown and Other Poems.
credit modern deals
The modern essay has regained a good deal of its literary status in our time, much to the credit of Joseph Epstein.