| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 7666 |
| QUOTATION: | It is not possible, for a poet, writing in any language, to protect himself from the tragic elements in human life.... [ellipsis in source] Illness, old age, and death—subjects as ancient as humanity—these are the subjects that the poet must speak of very nearly from the first moment that he begins to speak. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Louise Bogan (1897–1970), U.S. poet. As quoted in Our Ground Time Here Will be Brief, Epigram, by Maxine Kumin (1982). |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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