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I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.
Mary Oliver
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the emotional journey of creating art, highlighting both the struggle and the satisfaction in completing a work.

Mary Oliver's quote captures the essence of the creative process, acknowledging the feeling of burden that accompanies unfinished work and the profound sense of liberation that arrives with completion. It speaks to the dedication and commitment artists experience, as well as the joy that comes from bringing their vision to fruition.

Themes

ArtCreationProcessCompletionPoetry

In practice

Example use cases

A writer might use this quote during a workshop about overcoming creative blocks.

More from Mary Oliver

I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.
Mary OliverRead
At the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Mary OliverRead
For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.
Mary OliverRead
If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.
Mary OliverRead
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
Mary OliverRead
The god of dirt came up to me many times and said so many wise and delectable things, I lay on the grass listening to his dog voice, frog voice; now, he said, and now, and never once mentioned forever from, One or Two Things
Mary OliverRead

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