Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.
Interpretation
This quote compares writing poetry to a delicate act that produces a subtle and distant response.
Don Marquis uses the imagery of dropping a rose petal into the Grand Canyon as a metaphor for writing poetry. It highlights the fleeting nature of poetry and how the impact of one's words may not be immediately felt or recognized, much like the quiet echo that follows the fall of a delicate petal in a vast space. This suggests that poetry carries deep beauty but its significance may only resonate over time, akin to how art can evoke feelings long after it's created.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a poetry reading to emphasize the quiet power of poetry.
From 'the lesson of the moth': and before i could argue him out of his philosophy he went and immolated himself on a patent cigar lighter i do not agree with him myself i would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity but at the same time i wish there was something i wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself
When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: 'Whose?'
it is better to be a part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of beauty
A poem begins with a lump in the throat
Pornography is any act that has no artistic merit and causes sexual thoughts...Sounds like almost every commercial on TV to me.
In writing, I apply my feminine side and respect the mystery involved in creation.
Often a single experience will open the young soul to music for a whole lifetime
Caring too much for objects can destroy you. Only—if you care for a thing enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn’t it? And isn’t the whole point of things—beautiful things—that they connect you to some larger beauty?
Making words rhyme for a living is one of the great joys of my life... That's a superpower I've been very conscious of developing. I started at the same level as everybody else, and then I just listened to more music and talked to myself until it was an actual superpower I could pull out on special occasions.
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