Poets shouldn't commit suicide. That would leave the world … - Nikki Giovanni

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Poets shouldn't commit suicide. That would leave the world to those without imaginations or hearts. That would bequeath to the world a mangled syntax and no love of champagne. Poets must live in misery and ecstasy, to sing a song with the katydids. Poets should be ashamed to die before they kiss the sun.

Nikki Giovanni

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About Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni (June 7, 1943 – December 9, 2024) was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator.

Also Known As

Birth Name: Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr.

Alternative Names: Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr

All quotes from Nikki Giovanni Similar Quotes by other Originators

Originators like Nikki Giovanni:

Muriel Rukeyser Suman Pokhrel Mary Oliver William Carlos Williams Gwendolyn Brooks

Additional quotes by Nikki Giovanni

if nature is true
we shall all lose our eyes
since we cannot even now distinguish
the good from the evil
...i've a mind to build
a new world
want to play

if it does not sing discard the ear
for poetry is song
if it does not delight discard
the heart for poetry is joy
if it does not inform then close
off the brain for it is dead
if it cannot heed the insistent message
that life is preciouswhich is all we poets
wrapped in our loneliness
are trying to say

We need food for the Soul We need poetry ... We deserve poetry

Poets shouldn't commit suicide. That would leave the world to those without imaginations or hearts. That would bequeath to the world a mangled syntax… - Nikki Giovanni

About Nikki Giovanni

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Additional quotes by Nikki Giovanni

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