"I liked the kid who wrote me that he had to do a term paper on a modern poet and he was doing me because, though they say you have to read poems twice, he found he could handle mine in one try"
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Nemerov’s joke lands because it flatters and pricks him at the same time. A student admits he chose Nemerov for the laziest imaginable reason: not admiration, not revelation, just speed. And Nemerov, instead of scolding, “likes” the kid. That small word is doing real work. It positions the poet as a wry realist about how literature actually gets consumed in classrooms: under deadlines, through shortcuts, with a faint whiff of transactional dread.
The subtext is a sly refusal of the priestly aura around poetry. The line “they say you have to read poems twice” gestures at a whole culture of reverence and gatekeeping, the idea that difficulty is a badge of seriousness. Nemerov doesn’t quite deny that standard, but he punctures it with a grin. If his poems “handle” in one try, is that a compliment to clarity or an indictment of shallowness? He leaves the tension intact, which is why the quip feels earned rather than defensive.
Context matters: Nemerov built a reputation on crisp intelligence, formal control, and an almost conversational lucidity. In an era when “modern poet” could mean thorny obscurity, he’s aligning himself with a different modernism: accessible without being simplistic, witty without being disposable. The line also exposes the quiet bargain between poet and reader: you offer attention, I won’t punish you for it. That’s not anti-intellectual; it’s an argument that readability can be a form of respect.
The subtext is a sly refusal of the priestly aura around poetry. The line “they say you have to read poems twice” gestures at a whole culture of reverence and gatekeeping, the idea that difficulty is a badge of seriousness. Nemerov doesn’t quite deny that standard, but he punctures it with a grin. If his poems “handle” in one try, is that a compliment to clarity or an indictment of shallowness? He leaves the tension intact, which is why the quip feels earned rather than defensive.
Context matters: Nemerov built a reputation on crisp intelligence, formal control, and an almost conversational lucidity. In an era when “modern poet” could mean thorny obscurity, he’s aligning himself with a different modernism: accessible without being simplistic, witty without being disposable. The line also exposes the quiet bargain between poet and reader: you offer attention, I won’t punish you for it. That’s not anti-intellectual; it’s an argument that readability can be a form of respect.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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