Randall Jarrell

Randall Jarrell (May 6, 1914 – October 14, 1965) was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, novelist, and the 11th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position that now bears the title Poet Laureate.

Read more about Randall Jarrell:  Life, Writing, Bibliography

Famous quotes by randall jarrell:

    But really no one is exceptional,
    No one has anything, I’m anybody,
    I stand beside my grave
    Confused with my life, that is commonplace and solitary.
    Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)

    An object among dreams, you sit here with your shoes off
    And curl your legs up under you;
    Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)

    Bunched upside down, they sleep in air.
    Their sharp ears, their sharp teeth, their quick sharp faces
    Are dull and slow and mild.
    All the bright day, as the mother sleeps,
    She folds her wings about her sleeping child.
    Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)

    I wrung from the darkness—that the darkness flung me—
    Is worthless as ignorance: nothing comes from nothing,
    The darkness from the darkness. Pain comes from the darkness
    And we call it wisdom. It is pain.
    Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)

    The firelight of a long, blind, dreaming story
    Lingers upon your lips; and I have seen
    Firm, fixed forever in your closing eyes,
    The Corn King beckoning to his Spring Queen.
    Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)