(13 December 1927 – 25 March 1980 / Ohio)

poet James Arlington Wright
#301 on top 500 poets

Quotations

  • ''Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
    And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
    That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
    Suddenly I realize
    That if I stepped out of my body I would break
    Into blossom.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. A Blessing (l. 19-24). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, eds. (2d ed., 1988) W. W. Norton & Company.
    3 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home.
    Their women cluck like starved pullets,
    Dying for love.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio (l. 6-8). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, eds. (2d ed., 1988) W. W. Norton & Company.
    2 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''And nobody would commit suicide, only
    To find beyond death
    Bridgeport, Ohio.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. In Response to a Rumor That the Oldest Whorehouse in Wheeling, West Virginia, Has Been Condemned (l. 22-24). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, eds. (2d ed., 1988) W. W. Norton & Company.
    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.
    A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.
    I have wasted my life.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. Lying on a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota (l. 11-13). . . New Oxford Book of American Verse, The. Richard Ellmann, ed. (1976) Oxford University Press.
    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''Whatever it was I lost, whatever I wept for
    Was a wild, gentle thing, the small dark eyes
    Loving me in secret.
    It is here. At a touch of my hand,
    The air fills with delicate creatures
    From the other world.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. Milkweed (l. 7-12). . . New Oxford Book of American Verse, The. Richard Ellmann, ed. (1976) Oxford University Press.
    5 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''Come down. Come down. Why dost
    Thou hide thy face?''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. Speak (l. 39-40). . . Western Wind; an Introduction to Poetry. John Frederick Nims, ed. (2d ed., 1983) Random House.
    4 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • ''I have gone forward with
    Some, a few lonely some.
    They have fallen to death.
    I die with them.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. Speak (l. 33-36). . . Western Wind; an Introduction to Poetry. John Frederick Nims, ed. (2d ed., 1983) Random House.
    3 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''To speak in a flat voice
    Is all that I can do.''
    James Wright (1927-1980), U.S. poet. Speak (l. 1-2). . . Western Wind; an Introduction to Poetry. John Frederick Nims, ed. (2d ed., 1983) Random House.
    1 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.

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May Morning

Deep into spring, winter is hanging on. Bitter and skillful in his hopelessness, he stays alive in every shady place, starving along the Mediterranean: angry to see the glittering sea-pale boulder alive with lizards green as Judas leaves. Winter is hanging on. He still believes. He tries to catch a lizard by the shoulder. One olive tree below Grott

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