Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
Wallace StevensRead
If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Poetry, when it connects with human emotions like the Bible does, could achieve similar widespread impact.
Wallace Stevens suggests that poetry has the potential to resonate deeply with human experiences—our needs, aspirations, hopes, and fears—just as the Bible does. If poets can tap into these universal themes effectively, their work could reach a broad audience and perhaps rival the Bible in its influence and distribution. This quote emphasizes the power of art to connect with the human spirit.
Themes
PoetryBibleEmotionsArtHuman ExperienceAspirationsDistribution
In practice
Example use cases
During a literary discussion, one might reference this quote to highlight the emotional depth of poetry.
More from Wallace Stevens
All quotes →Most modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
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After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
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Why should she give her bounty to the dead? What is divinity if it can come Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
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LIGHT FROM WITHIN my friend, cancer got you damn it: you had it beat for seven years at least. how did it come back? Why all that pain. again. and you, such a fighter you fought me over and over with tears and words and promises. you fought for me with honesty and a light so bright it hurts my heart. sweet lorna. at peace now finally no more battles, just light from within a flickering candle in the dark burns with you.
Wallace StevensRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
Wallace StevensRead
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