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A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.
Robert Frost
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Interpretation

What this quote means

A poem originates from deep emotional experiences or feelings of longing.

In this quote, Robert Frost suggests that the essence of poetry stems from profound emotional states, such as feelings of discomfort, yearning for home, or the pain of love. These intense feelings act as the catalyst for creativity, allowing the poet to translate personal struggles and emotions into a universal expression through their art.

Themes

PoetryEmotionArtCreativityLonging

In practice

Example use cases

During a creative writing workshop, one might quote Frost to inspire participants to explore their feelings.

More from Robert Frost

Two such as you with such a master speed, cannot be parted nor be swept away, from one another once you are agreed, that life is only life forevermore, together wing to wing and oar to oar.
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You have freedom when you're easy in your harness.
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God made a beauteous garden With lovely flowers strown, But one straight, narrow pathway That was not overgrown. And to this beauteous garden He brought mankind to live, And said "To you, my children, These lovely flowers I give. Prune ye my vines and fig trees, With care my flowers tend, But keep the pathway open Your home is at the end." God's Garden
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'Warm in December, cold in June, you say?' _x000D_ _x000D_ I don't suppose the water's changed at all. _x000D_ _x000D_ You and I know enough to know it's warm _x000D_ _x000D_ Compared with cold, and cold compared with warm. _x000D_ _x000D_ But all the fun's in how you say a thing.
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For, dear me, why abandon a belief, Merely because it ceases to be true, Cling to it long enough, and not a doubt, It will turn true again, for so it goes.
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The question that he frames in all but words is what to make of a diminished thing.
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