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:
“The soul has no assignments, neither cooks
Nor referees: it wastes its time.
It wastes its time.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)
“They said, ‘Here are the maps’; we burned the cities.
It was not dying—no, not ever dying;
But the night I died I dreamed that I was dead,
And the cities said to me: ‘Why are you dying?
We are satisfied, if you are; but why did I die?’”
—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)
“The wild beasts, sparrows pecking the llamas’ grain,
Pigeons settling on the bears’ bread, buzzards
Tearing the meat the flies have clouded. . . .”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)
“One year
They sent a million here:
Here men were drunk like water, burnt like wood.
The fat of good
And evil, the breast’s star of hope
Were rendered into soap.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)