It was my first meeting with a philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless.
William Butler YeatsRead
If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A poet's interpretation of their own work can restrict its broader meanings and interpretations.
William Butler Yeats suggests that when a poet explains their own poem, they confine its potential meanings and the myriad interpretations that readers might find. Poetry is meant to evoke personal responses; by providing a definitive interpretation, the poet inadvertently limits the poem's suggestibility and the diverse understanding it could inspire in different individuals.
Themes
PoetryInterpretationMeaningArtSuggestibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a literature class, when discussing the importance of open interpretation, one might use this quote to emphasize the personal nature of poetry.
More from William Butler Yeats
All quotes βBut I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
William Butler YeatsRead
How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
William Butler YeatsRead
For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
William Butler YeatsRead
Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action, for we would not change that which we love.
William Butler YeatsRead
I believe when I am in the mood that all nature is full of people whom we cannot see, and that some of these are ugly or grotesque, and some wicked or foolish, but very many beautiful beyond any one we have ever seen, and that these are not far away... and the simple of all times and the wise men of ancient times have seen them and even spoken to them.
William Butler YeatsRead
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