What I thought was an end turned out to be a middle. What I thought was a brick wall turned out to be a tunnel. What I thought was an injustice turned out to be a color of the sky.
Tony HoaglandRead
So much of what I love about poetry lies in the vast possibilities of voice, the spectacular range of idiosyncratic flavors that can be embedded in a particular human voice reporting from the field. One beautiful axis of voice is the one that runs between vulnerability and detachment, between 'It hurts to be alive' and 'I can see a million miles from here.' A good poetic voice can do both at once.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the emotional diversity and depth that a poetic voice can express, balancing vulnerability with detachment.
Tony Hoagland's quote explores the unique qualities of poetic voice, highlighting how it captures a spectrum of human experience. It suggests that effective poetry embodies both the pain of existence and the expansive vision that comes from detachment, allowing for a rich and complex expression of feelings that resonate on multiple levels. A successful poetic voice can encapsulate these contrasting emotions simultaneously, making it powerful and relatable.
Themes
PoetryVoiceVulnerabilityDetachmentEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared at a poetry reading to highlight the depth of poetic expression.
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All quotes →When you're a student of poetry, you're lucky if you don't realize how untalented you are until you get a little better. Otherwise, you would just stop.
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