Quotation by

Galway Kinnell

That's the way it is with poetry: When it is incomprehensible it seems profound, and when you understand it, it is only ridiculous.

Galway Kinnell

Poetry

Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Galway Kinnell is saying that poetry often feels deep and meaningful when we don’t fully get it, but once we do understand it clearly, it can seem silly or less impressive. This highlights how the mystery or confusion around poetry can make it appear more important than it actually is.

More by this author

All quotes by Galway Kinnell →

More quotes about Poetry

See all →

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

A poet can survive everything but a misprint.

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emoti…

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.