I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.
Mary OliverRead
I always feel that whatever isn't necessary shouldn't be in a poem.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A poem should be concise and meaningful, excluding any unnecessary elements.
Mary Oliver asserts that poetry should be stripped down to its essential components, emphasizing clarity and purpose. She believes that anything that does not contribute meaningfully to the overall message or emotion of the poem should be omitted, resulting in a more powerful and impactful artistic expression.
Themes
PoetryMeaningArtConcisenessEssential
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote during a poetry workshop to emphasize the importance of editing.
More from Mary Oliver
All quotes βAt the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Mary OliverRead
I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.
Mary OliverRead
For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.
Mary OliverRead
If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.
Mary OliverRead
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
Mary OliverRead
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