Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.
Interpretation
This quote compares writing poetry to a delicate act that produces a subtle and distant response.
Don Marquis uses the imagery of dropping a rose petal into the Grand Canyon as a metaphor for writing poetry. It highlights the fleeting nature of poetry and how the impact of one's words may not be immediately felt or recognized, much like the quiet echo that follows the fall of a delicate petal in a vast space. This suggests that poetry carries deep beauty but its significance may only resonate over time, akin to how art can evoke feelings long after it's created.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a poetry reading to emphasize the quiet power of poetry.
From 'the lesson of the moth': and before i could argue him out of his philosophy he went and immolated himself on a patent cigar lighter i do not agree with him myself i would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity but at the same time i wish there was something i wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself
When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: 'Whose?'
it is better to be a part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of beauty
I have heard it said that a complicated childhood can lead to a life in the arts. I tell you this story of my father and me to let you know I am qualified to be a comedian.
Movie acting is primarily listening. If you're really engaged, that's all a movie audience wants to see is you processing what's happening in your world.
When people are deprived of a sense, their other senses get heightened. If you're culturally devoid of something - of weather, of artistry, of interesting architecture, all the way down the line to culture itself - you're either forced to give in and get that car dealership, or you manufacture those things for yourself.
Something in me knows where Iβm going, and - well, painting is a state of being. ... Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.
Does art have a future? Performance genres like opera, theater, music and dance are thriving all over the world, but the visual arts have been in slow decline for nearly 40 years. No major figure of profound influence has emerged in painting or sculpture since the waning of Pop Art and the birth of Minimalism in the early 1970s.
I was a little concerned that a lot of people thought I wrote Merchant Ivory movies. I also thought if I was ever going to write something strange and difficult, that was the time.
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