Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
Emily DickinsonRead
If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Poetry evokes deep emotional responses that cannot be easily warmed or comforted by mundane experiences.
Emily Dickinson's quote expresses the profound impact that poetry can have on a person, suggesting that powerful literature can elicit such intense feelings that it leaves one feeling cold, unable to be warmed by anything else. This speaks to the transformative nature of poetry, capable of reaching the depths of human emotion and experience in ways that are unique and profound.
Themes
PoetryEmotionArtLiteratureExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at a literary festival, one might quote Dickinson to emphasize the emotional depth of literature.
More from Emily Dickinson
All quotes βI held a jewel in my fingers And went to sleep. The day was warm, and winds were prosy; I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers,β The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
Emily DickinsonRead
I'll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time. The steeples swam in amethyst, The news like squirrels ran. The hills untied their bonnets, The bobolinks begun. Then I said softly to myself, "That must have been the sun!
Emily DickinsonRead
My best Acquaintances are those With Whom I spoke no Word
Emily DickinsonRead
This is the Hour of Lead- Remembered, if outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the Snow- First-Chill-then Stupor- then the letting go---
Emily DickinsonRead
Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.
Emily DickinsonRead
Similar quotes
Of all my films, people wrote to me most about this one... ...I had wanted to make The Idiot long before Rashomon. Since I was little I've liked Russian literature, but I find that I like Dostoevsky the best and had long thought that this book would make a wonderful film. He is still my favourite author, and he is the one - I still think - who writes most honestly about human existence.
Akira KurosawaRead
I prefer to unwind by DJing. I learned that from Mike D from the Beastie Boys. After a show, he would DJ. Once I saw that, I wanted to do that. And now DJing is like my lifeline. I love the power it represents.
QuestloveRead
There's a reason poets often say, 'Poetry saved my life,' for often the blank page is the only one listening to the soul's suffering, the only one registering the story completely, the only one receiving all softly and without condemnation.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead
Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use β do the work you want to see done.
Austin KleonRead
By attracting attention to yourself, you distract people from the movie. Ideally, you like a movie to speak for itself. You don't describe a song before you sing it or tell about a painting before you show it. You don't reveal the recipe before you serve the dish. You taste it.
Warren BeattyRead
The artist in our time has two chief responsibilities: (1) art; and (2) sedition.
Edward AbbeyRead