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 have the feeling that a lot of poets writing now are - they sort of tap dance through it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mary Oliver suggests that contemporary poets engage with their art in a playful, yet perhaps superficial manner.
In this quote, Mary Oliver reflects on the nature of modern poetry, implying that many poets may approach their craft with a sense of lightness or jocularity, akin to 'tap dancing'. This playful metaphor suggests a concern that some poets might prioritize form and entertainment over depth and earnestness, thus potentially leading to a dilution of the profound emotional and intellectual power that poetry can evoke.
Themes
PoetryArtDepthEmotionExpression
In practice
Example use cases
During a poetry reading, one might quote Oliver to emphasize the need for authenticity in poetic expression.
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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