Poets are being pursued by the philosophers today, out of the poverty of philosophy. God damn it, you might think a man had no business to be writing, to be a poet unless some philosophic stinker gave him permission.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. ... it filled me with soul satisfying joy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote describes the transformative power of poetry in overcoming despair and finding joy.
In this quote, William Carlos Williams reflects on the moment he created his first poem, describing it as a sudden and powerful revelation that lifted him from a state of deep disillusionment and depression. The poem not only broke a spell of hopelessness but also filled him with a profound and fulfilling joy, highlighting the capacity of art, specifically poetry, to bring about emotional and mental breakthroughs.
Themes
PoetryJoyDespairTransformationArt
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the healing power of creativity and artistic expression.
More from William Carlos Williams
All quotes →For the beginning is assuredly the end- since we know nothing, pure and simple, beyond our own complexities.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
It was the love of love, the love of swallows up all else, a grateful love, a love of natural, of people, of animals, a love ingengering gentleness and goodness that moved meand that I saw in you
William Carlos WilliamsRead
O frost bitten blossoms, That are unfolding your wings From out the envious black branches. Bloom quickly and make much of the sunshine. The twigs conspire against you! Hear hem! They hold you from behind.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
No opinion can be trusted; even the facts may be nothing but a printer's error.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
It is almost impossible to state what one in fact believes, because it is almost impossible to hold a belief and to define it at the same time.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
Similar quotes
Too much of what passes for design now is theater. It's one thing to be eccentric- and by the way, most eccentrics tend to be rather well-educated people - and quite another to be a faddist, by which I mean someone who tries to conjure a totally foreign aesthetic in a misplaced environment.
Albert HadleyRead
I enjoy playing the band as the band. I 'be' the whole band and I'm playing the drums, I'm playing the guitar, I'm playing the saxophone. To me, the most wonderful thing about playing music is that.
Chick CoreaRead
I try to remember that the job - as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy - of the artist is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it.
Dani ShapiroRead
I had just arrived in New York from California. I was nineteen years old and excited beyond belief. I was an art student and an acting student and behaved as most young actors did - meaning that there was no such thing as a good actor, 'cause you yourself hadn't shown up yet.
Robert RedfordRead
...the moon that hung over the garden like some great priceless pearl, flawed and blemished with grey shadowy ridges as only a very great beauty can risk being.
Anita DesaiRead
I can't just make a song people can dance in a club to... it still has to be real.
Mary J. BligeRead