Not till the poets among us can be "literalists of the imagination"-above insolence and triviality and can present for inspection, "imaginary gardens with real toads in them." shall we have it.
Marianne MooreRead
Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Poetry combines imagination and reality to create beauty and depth.
Marianne Moore's quote suggests that poetry transcends mere words; it creates a vibrant world where reality intersects with imagination. By likening poetry to 'imaginary gardens with real toads,' she implies that it holds the power to evoke genuine emotions and thoughts through artistic expression, utilizing the tangible and the fantastical to explore deeper meanings of life.
Themes
PoetryArtImaginationRealityBeauty
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of creativity in literature.
More from Marianne Moore
All quotes βIn a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric is governed by gravity.
Marianne MooreRead
Originality is... a by-product of sincerity.
Marianne MooreRead
It is quite cruel that a poet cannot wander through his regions of enchantment without having a critic, forever, like the old man of the sea, upon his back.
Marianne MooreRead
I see no reason for calling my work poetry except that there is no other category in which to put it.
Marianne MooreRead
If technique is of no interest to a writer, I doubt that the writer is an artist.
Marianne MooreRead
Similar quotes
It has always seemed to me that so long as you produce your dramatic effect, accuracy of detail matters little. I have never striven for it and I have made some bad mistakes in consequence. What matter if I hold my readers?
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
Most of Hollywood is about making money - and I love money, but I don't make the films thinking about money.
David LynchRead
I believe the right question to ask, respecting all ornament, is simply this; was it done with enjoyment, was the carver happy while he was about it?
John RuskinRead
The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coincide. As such, it both affirms and denies its own nature.
Paul De ManRead
I always feel that whatever isn't necessary shouldn't be in a poem.
Mary OliverRead
We do not evaluate the result but the starting point of the creative process. Precisely, this shows whether the form was discovered by starting from life, or for its own sake. That is why I consider the creative process so essential. Life for us is the decisive factor.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead