Geoffrey Hill may be the strongest and most original English poet of the second half of our fading century, although his work is by no means either e…

- John Hollander

A long project is like a secret houseguest, hidden in your study, waiting to be fed and visited.

- John Hollander

We speak of memorizing as getting something 'by heart,' which really means 'by head.' But getting a poem or prose passage truly 'by heart' implies ge…

- John Hollander

Poetry gets to be the poetry of life by successfully becoming first the poetry of poetry.

- John Hollander

When Adam found his rib was gone He cursed and sighed and cried and swore And looked with cold resentment on The creature God has used it for.

- John Hollander

To understand The signs that stars compose, we need depend Only on stars that are entirely there And the apparent space between them. There Never nee…

- John Hollander