Adrienne Rich Quotes about Poetry

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The moment of change is the only poem.

Adrienne Rich

Change, Healing, Poetry

Adrienne Rich (1971). “The Will to Change: Poems 1968-1970”, p.47, W. W. Norton & Company

Reality, the oppressor's tongue.

Adrienne Rich

Reality, Poetry, Literature

Can you remember? when we thought the poets taught how to live?

Adrienne Rich

Life, Poetry, Taught

Adrienne Rich (1993). “Your Native Land, Your Life”, p.50, W. W. Norton & Company

I do not think [poetry] is more, or less, necessary than food, shelter, health, education, decent working conditions. It is as necessary.

Adrienne Rich

Thinking, Health Education, Poetry

Adrienne Rich (2003). “What Is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics (Expanded Edition)”, p.11, W. W. Norton & Company

The necessity of poetry has to be stated over and over, but only to those who have reason to fear its power, or those who still believe that language is 'only words' and that an old language is good enough for our descriptions of the world we are trying to transform.

Adrienne Rich

Believe, Poetry, Trying

Adrienne Rich (1995). “On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978”, p.137, W. W. Norton & Company