Stanley Kunitz
Stanley Kunitz
Stanley Jasspon Kunitzwas an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, first in 1974 and then again in 2000...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth29 July 1905
CityWorcester, MA
made critics feels
One critic wrote . . . that my poems sounded as though they had been translated from the Hungarian. I don't know why, but somehow that made me feel quite lighthearted.
writing mind ears
The ear writes my poems, not the mind.
poetry language poetry-is
Poetry is language surprised in the act of changing into meaning.
spirit cherish modern
Certainly the modern poets I cherish most are disturbing spirits; they do not come to coo.
longing buried
A longing for the dance stirs in the buried life.
writing poetry today
Poetry today is easier to write but harder to remember.
writing tasks firsts
The first task of the poet is to create the person who will write the poems.
layers next-chapter
Live in the layers, not on the litter.
writing ears pages
...few young poets [are] testing their poems against the ear. They're writing for the page, and the page, let me tell you, is a cold bed.
football passion desire
What makes the engine go? Desire, desire, desire.
marriage house rooms
In every house of marriage there's room for an interpreter.
summer writing thinking
I dropped my hoe and ran into the house and started to write this poem, 'End of Summer.’ It began as a celebration of wild geese. Eventually the geese flew out of the poem, but I like to think they left behind the sound of their beating wings.
talking perfection vision
Not that you need to be a saint to have visions worth talking about. The most effective prescription, I suspect, is to be a disciplined sinner. Perfection, as Valery noted, is work.
mars mail
Forward my mail to Mars.