113 Quotes by Denise Levertov

What I heard was my whole self saying and singing what it knew: I can.

Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.

One of the obligations of the writer is to say or sing all that he or she can, to deal with as much of the world as becomes possible to him or her in language.

Marvelous Truth, confront us at every turn, in every guise.

In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.

There is no savor more sweet, more salt than to be glad to be what, woman, and who, myself, I am...

Nothing we do has the quickness, the sureness, the deep intelligence living at peace would have.

I believe every space and comma is a living part of the poem and has its function, just as every muscle and pore of the body has its function. And the way the lines are broken is a functioning part essential to the life of the poem.

A poet articulating the dreads and horrors of our time is necessary in order to make readers understand what is happening, really understand it, not just know about it but feel it: and should be accompanied by a willingness on the part of those who write it to take additional action towards stopping the great miseries which they record.