"Language cares."
Howard Nemerov"I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier."
Howard Nemerov"I do insist on making what I hope is sense so there's always a coherent narrative or argument that the reader can follow."
Howard Nemerov"Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, they say, forgetful of the shadow's speed."
Howard Nemerov"The secrets of success are a good wife and a steady job. My wife told me."
Howard Nemerov"A teacher is a person who never says anything once."
Howard Nemerov"I think there was a revolution in poetry, associated chiefly with Eliot and Pound; but maybe it is of the nature of revolutions or of the nature of history that their innovations should later come to look trivial or indistinguishable from technical tricks."
Howard Nemerov"It may be said that poems are in one way like icebergs: only about a third of their bulk appears above the surface of the page."
Howard Nemerov"I sometimes talk about the making of a poem within the poem."
Howard Nemerov