Frederick Seidel Quotes

Write beautifully what people don’t want to hear.

You need a danger to be safe in.

I like poems that are daggers that sing. I like poems that for all the power of the sentiments expressed, and all the power to upset and offend, are so well made that they’re achieved things. However much they upset you, they also affect you.

I like to hear the sound of form, and I like to hear the sound of it breaking.

I was left with myself and had to do the one thing I could to survive. I knew it would be difficult to write, very difficult, but I set about doing it.

Sometimes you finish the poem, and that last piece clicks in place. Sometimes the poem is finished with you.

I like poems that are daggers that sing.