There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
Rita DoveRead
Have you ever heard a good joke? If you've ever heard someone just right, with the right pacing, then you're already on the way to poetry. It's about using words in very precise ways and using gesture.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the artistic nature of poetry, comparing it to the delivery of a good joke.
Rita Dove highlights the intricate relationship between language and performance in both poetry and humor. Just as a good joke relies on timing and word choice to elicit laughter, poetry also requires precise language and gestures to convey emotion and meaning. The quote suggests that the skills of a comedian are akin to those of a poet, as both art forms require an acute awareness of how words can affect the audience.
Themes
PoetryHumorLanguageArtPerformance
In practice
Example use cases
In a poetry reading, one could start with this quote to emphasize the connection between poetry and humor.
More from Rita Dove
All quotes →Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every scientist I have met who has been a success has had to imagine.
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As an African-American, as a woman, I think that I've been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male and the way in which certain aspects of history, the things that we are taught in school, the things that are handed down, never, never entered the picture though they might have been very important.
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If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can’t imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America’s alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart — and then to discover that one is not alone in ones feelings.
Rita DoveRead
All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, This is when I became myself.
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Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.
Rita DoveRead
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