Donald Hall in “Life Work” on tricking writing our of oneself | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Donald Hall, how he tricks so much work out of himself.

“At any moment, when a poem does not occupy me wholly, when I feel impatient, or discouraged, or tired, I drop it quickly; after a while—one hour, three hours—I feel the poetry-juices drying out. Instantly, I stop; I put the poems away until the following morning.

Wakes up at 4.15. Four hours done by 10a.m. Been up for 5.5 hours. “Over the last four hours, I have done my day’s work. I cannot fake it in the afternoon; if I push too hard, I become impatient and do bad work. Gets into bed between 8.30 and 9, reads until his eyes refuse to stay open.”