Karl Shapiro
Karl Shapiro
Karl Jay Shapirowas an American poet. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1946...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth10 November 1913
CountryUnited States of America
men self insane
Self-knowledge is a dangerous thing, tending to make man shallow or insane.
yesterday overwhelmed tomorrow
Poets of course are even more unpredictable than other writers, overwhelmed as they are by the moment they inhabit and finding it difficult to connect yesterday with tomorrow.
two-sides answers maxims
The proverbist knows nothing of the two sides of a question. He knows only the roundness of answers.
dream sleep gold
Lawyers love paper. They eat, sleep and dream paper. They turn paper into gold, and their files are colorful and their language neoclassical and calli-graphically bewigged.
poet chairs
Keelhaul the poets in the vestry chairs.
way poetry-is seeing
Poetry is not a way of saying things; it's a way of seeing things.
smile sleep breathing
But with exquisite breathing you smile, with satisfaction of love, And I touch you again as you tick in the silence and settle in sleep.
wise unique doe
Poetry is innocent, not wise. It does not learn from experience, because each poetic experience is unique.