I will not sin great sins. Kept from the edge

Of that precipice, neither will I build a bridge

Across...

No contemporary poet is famous, but some are less unfamous than others. That's because the poetry world, like most areas of American life, has its own peculiar celebrity system -- and if the rewards of that system rarely involve gift suites filled with swag from Jean Patou, they remain tempting enough to keep grown writers hustling. The problem is, poetic stardom is an unpredictable business. Good writing doesn’t guarantee a reputation; bad writing doesn’t guarantee oblivion; nor can grace, money or nimble careerism entirely explain why Poet X reads to overflowing auditoriums, whereas Poet Y reads to his cats. Maybe it's simply the case that, as William Munny remarked in "Unforgiven," "deserve's got nothing to do with it."