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One day in the countryIs worth a month in town Christina Rossetti December 5, 1830: Pre-Raphaelite poet Christina Rossetti enjoyed literary success i…
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If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way. Seamus Heaney Irish poet and Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney (born April 13…
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I will drink life to the lees. Alfred Tennyson April 20, 1827: Popular Victorian poet Alfred Tennyson published his first book 187 years ago today. T…
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To see you naked is to recall the Earth. Federico García Lorca August 19, 1936: Spanish poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca, whose works were ba…
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Tell me a story of deep delight. Robert Penn Warren December 20, 1985: Ronald Reagan signed legislation that created title of Poet Laureate, 28 years…
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The best portion of a good man's life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love. William Wordsworth British poet William Wordswort…
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Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. Rabindranath Tagore Influential Bengali…
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Tell me, what is it you plan to dowith your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver Happy 79th birthday, Mary Oliver! The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet…
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For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought. Edmund Spenser December 1, 1589: English poet Edmund Spenser registered the first part of hi…
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The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to seaIn a beautiful pea green boat... Edward Lear Nonsense poet Edward Lear (born May 12, 1812) was also an accomplis…
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I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree. Joyce Kilmer Poet Joyce Kilmer (born December 6, 1886) spent several years working for Funk an…
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Sometimes thou seem'st not as thyself alone, But as the meaning of all things that are. Dante Gabriel Rossetti February 10, 1862: Poet Dante Gabriel …
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Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry? William Blake November 28, 1757: R…
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Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these. Ovid Roman poet Ovid (born March 20, 43 BC), author of the Metamorphoses, is credited…
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You will hear thunder and remember me,and think: she wanted storms... Anna Akhmatova June 23, 1889: Russian protest poet Anna Akhmatova was born in w…
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O beautiful for spacious skiesfor amber waves of grain Katharine Lee Bates August 12, 1859: Poet Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write her best k…
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I have just realized that the stakes are myselfI have no otherransom money, nothing to break or barter but my life Diane di Prima August 6, 1934: Hap…
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The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even—if you will—eccentricity. Joseph Brodsky Former…
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Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger. Ben Okri Happy 55th birthday, Ben Okri! As a teenager, the Nigerian poet and nove…
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Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger. Ben Okri Happy 58th birthday, Ben Okri! As a teenager, the Nigerian poet and nove…
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If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older. Abraham Sutzkever Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever (born July 15, 1913) survived Lithuani…
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One should never write down or up to people, but out of yourself. Christopher Isherwood British writer Christopher Isherwood (born August 26, 1904) c…
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The best portion of a good man's life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love. William Wordsworth British poet William Wordswort…
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Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone. Czesław Miłosz Prolific poet, essayist, and histor…
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Give me a room whose every nook is dedicated to a book. Robert Southey English poet Robert Southey (born August 12, 1774) was a contemporary of such …
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Love is so short, forgetting is so long. Pablo Neruda Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (born July 12, 1904) preferred to write in green ink because the colo…
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The sunlight claps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea: what are all these kissings worth, if thou kiss not me? Percy Bysshe Shelley At the age…
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The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even—if you will—eccentricity. Joseph Brodsky Former…
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Life is just action and reaction, rationalizations are added later on Ibn-e-Safi Ibn-e-Safi was the pen name of famed Pakistani writer and poet Asrar…
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When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. Jenny Joseph Happy 85th birthday, Jenny Joseph! The…
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Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer. Jean de La Fontaine According to popular rumor, French poet Jean de La Fontaine (born July 8, 1621) c…
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I want to understand you,I study your obscure language. Alexander Pushkin Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (born June 6, 1799) was part of the country'…
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Life is full of strange absurdities, which, strangely enough, do not even need to appear plausible, since they are true. Luigi Pirandello Italian nov…
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Love, like fire, goes out without fuel. Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Lermontov (born October 15, 1814) was a Russian Romantic poet and author who died i…
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Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish. Anne Bradstreet July 10, 1666: On this day, a fire destro…
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Everything distracted me, but most of all myself. Patti Smith Happy birthday, Patti Smith! The American writer, performer, and visual artist, known a…
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A tiger doesn't proclaim his tigritude, he pounces Wole Soyinka Happy birthday, Wole Soyinka! The Nigerian playwright and poet was imprisoned for 22 …
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Making a living is nothing; the great difficulty is making a point, making a difference—with words. - Elizabeth Hardwick Elizabeth Hardwick (born Jul…
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The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to seaIn a beautiful pea green boat... Edward Lear Nonsense poet Edward Lear (born May 12, 1812) was also an accomplis…
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I wanted the whole world or nothing. Charles Bukowski According to city records, Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany on August 16, 1920, …
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Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these. Ovid Roman poet Ovid (born March 20, 43 BC), author of the Metamorphoses, is credited…
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Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are. Gretel Ehrlich Happy birthday, Gretel Ehrlich! The American travel writer, novelist, es…
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Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. W.B. Yeats William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet and dramatist who became one of t…
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What’s writing really about? It’s about trying to take fuller possession of the reality of your life. Ted Hughes The English poet Ted Hughes (born Au…
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Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. Rabindranath Tagore Influential Bengali…
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Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Jalaluddin Rumi Happy 80th birthday, Coleman Barks! Most English-speaking fans of 13th…
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If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way. Seamus Heaney Irish poet and Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney (born April 13…
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Unreal friendship may turn to realBut real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended T.S. Eliot On December 29, 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of…
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When you set sail for Ithaca,wish for the road to be long,full of adventures, full of knowledge. Constantinos P. Cavafis Though he spent most of his …
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The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. Muriel Rukeyser During a five-decade literary career, American poet and political activist Muriel Ruke…