Give me hunger, pain and want, Shut me out with shame and failure From your doors of gold and fame, Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger! But leave me a little love.
Carl SandburgRead
Ordering a man to write a poem is like commanding a pregnant woman to give birth to a red-headed child.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creative expression cannot be forced; it comes from within.
Carl Sandburg's quote suggests that poetry and creative expression are organic processes that cannot be easily coerced. Just as a pregnant woman cannot choose the hair color of her child, a poet cannot simply be ordered to create; the act of writing a poem requires inspiration, natural development, and personal resonance.
Themes
CreativityPoetryInspirationArtistic ExpressionFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
During a creative writing workshop where students are encouraged to find their own voice.
More from Carl Sandburg
All quotes βNothing happens... but first a dream.
Carl SandburgRead
Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today. Get a vocabulary. Brush up on your diction. See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.
Carl SandburgRead
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Carl SandburgRead
There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
Carl SandburgRead
A liar goes in fine clothes, a liar goes in rags, a liar is a liar, clothes or no clothes.
Carl SandburgRead
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