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William Empson Quotes

1906–1984 England

Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an influential English literary critic and poet.

England
Academics
Poets

Random William Empson quote

22 quotes

An ambiguity, in ordinary speech, means something very pronounced, and as a rule witty or deceitful. . . . any verbal nuance, however slight, which gives room for alternative reactions to the same piece of language.

Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930)

Hours before dawn we were woken by the quake.
My house was on a cliff. The thing could take
Bookloads off shelves, break bottles in a row.
Then the long pause and then the bigger shake.
It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

Aubade (1937)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Empson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.