Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/poetic-response Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Robert Pinsky responds to the tragedy through poetry. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. ROBERT PINSKY: Here is one of the many poems that have come to my attention in the time since September 11. One of the themes of these times has been courage. Courage that many have shown and the courage that may be required. Here is Marianne Moore's poem "What Are Years?"What is our innocence, what is our guilt? All are naked, none is safe. And whence is courage: the unanswered question, the resolute doubt,- dumbly calling, deafly listening-that in misfortune, even death, encourages others and in its defeat, stirsthe soul to be strong? He sees deep and is glad, who accedes to mortality and in his imprisonment, rises upon himself as the sea in a chasm, struggling to be free and unable to be, in its surrendering finds its continuing.So he who strongly feels, behaves. The very bird, grown taller as he sings, steels his form straight up. Though he is captive, his mighty singing says, satisfaction is a lowly thing, how pure a thing is joy. This is mortality, This is eternity.