Poets must read and study, but also they must learn to tilt and whisper, shout, or dance, each in his or her own way, or we might just as well copy old books. But, no, that would never do, for always the new self swimming around in the old world feels itself unqiuely verbal. And that is just the point: how the world, moist and bountiful, calls to each of us to makes a new and serious response. That's the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning. "Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?" This book is my comment.
— Mary Oliver, Long Life