I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.
Virginia WoolfRead
The poet gives us his essence, but prose takes the mould of the body and mind entire.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that poetry distills the core of human experience, while prose encompasses a broader spectrum of thought and emotion.
Virginia Woolf highlights the distinction between poetry and prose by stating that poetry reveals the essential spirit of the poet, capturing deep emotional truths in a concentrated form. In contrast, prose, which encompasses broader narratives and ideas, represents the entirety of the human experience, including both intellect and emotion, offering a more complete portrayal of life, thoughts, and actions.
Themes
PoetryProseEssenceHuman ExperienceLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a literature class discussing the depth of poetic expression.
More from Virginia Woolf
All quotes βDeath is woven in with the violets,β said Louis. βDeath and again death.β)
Virginia WoolfRead
He began to search among the infinite series of impressions which time had laid down, leaf upon leaf, fold upon fold softly, incessantly upon his brain; among scents, sounds; voices, harsh, hollow, sweet; and lights passing, and brooms tapping; and the wash and hush of the sea.
Virginia WoolfRead
I want to think quietly, calmly, spaciously, never to be interrupted, never to have to rise from my chair, to slip easily from one thing to another, without any sense of hostility, or obstacle. I want to sink deeper and deeper, away from the surface, with its hard separate facts.
Virginia WoolfRead
I do think all good and evil comes from words. I have to tune myself into a good temper with something musical, and I run to a book as a child to its mother.
Virginia WoolfRead
London perpetually attracts, stimulates, gives me a play and a story and a poem, without any trouble, save that of moving my legs through the streets... To walk alone through London is the greatest rest.
Virginia WoolfRead
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Belief in one's identity as a poet or writer prior to the acid test of publication is as naive and harmless as the youthful belief in one's immortality... and the inevitable disillusionment is just as painful.
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