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.
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Originality is... a by-product of sincerity.
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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.
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I see no reason for calling my work poetry except that there is no other category in which to put it.
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If technique is of no interest to a writer, I doubt that the writer is an artist.
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