I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered through the lens of race, sex, and age. – Rita Dove
I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry. – Rita Dove
You have to imagine it possible before you can see something. You can have the evidence right in front of you, but if you cant imagine something that has never existed before, its impossible. – Rita Dove
If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level. – Rita Dove
The doctors tell us of a physical disease called fatty degeneration of the heart… there is a moral malady—fatty degeneration of the soul; sooner or later it attacks every man, however noble his career, who puts self forward in his aims; who values fame because a personal possession. – Frank Lee Benedict, The Price She Paid, 1882