--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A good poem is a tautology. It expands…" description: "\"A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The see..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg" --- # A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding… ![“A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The seedword is always so ordinary that hardly anyone perceives it. Classical odes grow from and or because, romantic lyrics from but and if. Immature…” quote by Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg) > “A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The seedword is always so ordinary that hardly anyone perceives it. Classical odes grow from and or because, romantic lyrics from but and if. Immature verses expand a personal pronoun ad nauseam, the greatest works bring glory to a common verb. Good poems, therefore, are always close to banality, over which, however, they tower like precipices.” [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry often starts with simple, familiar ideas and builds complexity, turning ordinary language into something profound yet rooted in the mundane. **In simple terms:** Simple ideas become complex poems. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity, then expand creatively. Themes creativity language art complexity mundanity Mood reflective introspective Type analytical literary When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary analysis - creative writing classes - poetry readings Key Concepts metaphor symbolism structure semantic expansion Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance simplicity and complexity? - When does elaboration obscure meaning? A Different Perspective The expansion can become overly ornate, losing clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Immature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immature/) [Odes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odes/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Pronouns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pronouns/) [Verses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verses/) ## Related quotes > [I began to imitate what I was reading, and I started to become a poet, even though what I was writing were not good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-began-to-imitate-what-i-was-reading-and-i-started-to-become-a-poet/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [All good poems are victories over something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/all-good-poems-are-victories-over-something/) [Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/) > [Good poems do a lot of things at once. Often, by doing so, they encourage us to acknowledge mixed and incompatible feelings. Good poems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-burt/good-poems-do-a-lot-of-things-at-once-often-by-doing-so-they/) [Stephen Burt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-burt/) > [It's good to have poems that begin with tea and end with God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/it-s-good-to-have-poems-that-begin-with-tea-and-end-with-god/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [... to write well it is entirely necessary to read widely and deeply. Good poems are the best teachers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/to-write-well-it-is-entirely-necessary-to-read-widely-and-deeply-good/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Now listen to me, please: On a winter day, when you were a lycée student, it was snowing, and you were lost in thought.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/now-listen-to-me-please-on-a-winter-day-when-you-were-a-lyc-e-student/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [To write good poems is the secret of brevity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/to-write-good-poems-is-the-secret-of-brevity/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Existence itself is nothing if not an amazement. Good poems restore amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/existence-itself-is-nothing-if-not-an-amazement-good-poems-restore/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Well, the great thing for me about poetry is that in good poems the dislocation of words, that is to say, the distance between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/well-the-great-thing-for-me-about-poetry-is-that-in-good-poems-the/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [Good acts are like good poems. One may easily get their drift, but they are not rationally understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/good-acts-are-like-good-poems-one-may-easily-get-their-drift-but-they/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Good poems ask us to have complex minds and hearts. Even simple-of-surface poems want that. Perhaps those are the ones that want it most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/good-poems-ask-us-to-have-complex-minds-and-hearts-even-simple-of/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Poverty is very good in poems but very bad in the house; very good in maxims and sermons but very bad in practical life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/poverty-is-very-good-in-poems-but-very-bad-in-the-house-very-good-in/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [ I enjoyed \[playing lawyer in From The Hip\] as an ode to my dad. My dad went to Harvard and Harvard Law School, so… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/i-enjoyed-playing-lawyer-in-from-the-hip-as-an-ode-to-my-dad-my-dad/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [She dotes on poetry, sir. She adores it; I may say that her whole soul and mind are wound up, and entwined with it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/she-dotes-on-poetry-sir-she-adores-it-i-may-say-that-her-whole-soul/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Alasdair Gray > [“At last she interrupted with a harsh rattle of laughter. "Oh, yes, I like this book! Crazy hopes of a glamorous, rich, colorful life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/at-last-she-interrupted-with-a-harsh-rattle-of-laughter-oh-yes-i-like/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“Only bad religions depend on mysteries, just as bad governments depend on secret police." A character's response to a discussion about eating from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/only-bad-religions-depend-on-mysteries-just-as-bad-governments-depend/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [But I do enjoy words—some words for their own sake! Words like river, and dawn, and daylight, and time. These words seem much richer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/but-i-do-enjoy-words-some-words-for-their-own-sake-words-like-river/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“Lanark said irritably, "You seem to understand my questions, but your answers make no sense to me." "That's typical of life, isn't it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/lanark-said-irritably-you-seem-to-understand-my-questions-but-your/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [Are there many people without illness or disability who sit at home in the evening with clenched fists, continually changing the channel of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/are-there-many-people-without-illness-or-disability-who-sit-at-home/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“The world sometimes seems a chessboard where the pieces move themselves. I'm never sure what square to go to. Yet it can't be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/the-world-sometimes-seems-a-chessboard-where-the-pieces-move/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“But leaders need to be mostly dead. People want solid monuments to cling to, not confused men like themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/but-leaders-need-to-be-mostly-dead-people-want-solid-monuments-to/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“One day after the exams, the teachers sat at their desks correcting papers while the pupils read comics, played chess or cards or talked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/one-day-after-the-exams-the-teachers-sat-at-their-desks-correcting/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [Think of Florence, Paris, London, New York. Nobody visiting them for the first time is a stranger because he's already visited them in paintings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/think-of-florence-paris-london-new-york-nobody-visiting-them-for-the/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [I distrust speech therapy. Words are the language of lies and evasions. Music cannot lie. Music talks to the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/i-distrust-speech-therapy-words-are-the-language-of-lies-and-evasions/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [Movement turns dead dogs into maggots and daisies, and flour butter sugar an egg and a tablespoon of milk into Abernethy biscuits, and spermatozoa…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/movement-turns-dead-dogs-into-maggots-and-daisies-and-flour-butter/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“He watched them with the passionate regret with which he saw them play football or go to dances: the activity itself did not interest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/he-watched-them-with-the-passionate-regret-with-which-he-saw-them/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“It is, but we can only help people by giving less than we take away from them. We enlarge the oasis by increasing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/it-is-but-we-can-only-help-people-by-giving-less-than-we-take-away/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“She is the swelling sail, trim rigging and bust sunlit deck of our matrimonial yacht. I am the low hull, with the invisible ballast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/she-is-the-swelling-sail-trim-rigging-and-bust-sunlit-deck-of-our/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“Only bad religions depend on mysteries, just as bad governments depend on secret police. Truth, beauty and goodness are not mysterious, they are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/only-bad-religions-depend-on-mysteries-just-as-bad-governments-depend-2/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) [Explore all 47 Alasdair Gray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) ## More Ads quotes > [A home isn't just a roof over our heads. A home is a place where we feel loved and where we love others. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-home-isn-t-just-a-roof-over-our-heads-a-home-is-a-place-where-we/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Metallica's the only band i've ever been in. I'm not sure that when it ends in five, ten years, I'm going to put an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-ulrich/metallica-s-the-only-band-i-ve-ever-been-in-i-m-not-sure-that-when-it/) [Lars Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-ulrich/) > [As a Fundamentalist I had discovered while I was in college that it is possible to dismiss the entire Church as having gone off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-howard-3rd-duke-of-norfolk/as-a-fundamentalist-i-had-discovered-while-i-was-in-college-that-it/) Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk > [ The most recent incarnation of \[Bob\] Dylan has been the traveling journeyman/ charlatan who sings roots music, snarls dark lyrics that make "All Along… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/the-most-recent-incarnation-of-bob-dylan-has-been-the-traveling/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [One performer whose band played my music better than I could myself was Art Farmer. He recorded 'Sing Me Softly of the Blues' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-bley/one-performer-whose-band-played-my-music-better-than-i-could-myself/) [Carla Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-bley/) > [What every human being should do is eat a vegetarian diet based on whole foods. Period. That's it. Animal protein is bad for you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/what-every-human-being-should-do-is-eat-a-vegetarian-diet-based-on/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [In market research I did at Microsoft Corp. in the early 1990s, I estimated that the 'Wall Street Journal' took in about 75 cents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/in-market-research-i-did-at-microsoft-corp-in-the-early-1990s-i/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [Donald Trump threatened to file a defamation suit against me for running a TV ad that consisted only entirely of his own words on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/donald-trump-threatened-to-file-a-defamation-suit-against-me-for/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [There is nothing personal about a personal ad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-smith/there-is-nothing-personal-about-a-personal-ad/) [Wes Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-smith/) > [Google has - at least at this point - maintained the line where it keeps organic results separate from the advertisements. But over time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/google-has-at-least-at-this-point-maintained-the-line-where-it-keeps/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [I am terrible at memorizing things. Hence, ad-libbing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-weatherly/i-am-terrible-at-memorizing-things-hence-ad-libbing/) [Michael Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-weatherly/) > [In a recent attack ad, the NRA claims that President Obama cares about his own children more than he cares about other children. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-fallon/in-a-recent-attack-ad-the-nra-claims-that-president-obama-cares-about/) [Jimmy Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-fallon/) > [Nothing's going to keep me from making music. If I were in the want-ads in the back of the paper or playing to six…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-grohl/nothing-s-going-to-keep-me-from-making-music-if-i-were-in-the-want/) [Dave Grohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-grohl/) > [For me, being on set is no different than being at a dinner table or riding the subway next to someone; inevitably their life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-mahoney/for-me-being-on-set-is-no-different-than-being-at-a-dinner-table-or/) [Victoria Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-mahoney/) > [We assumed the customers were smart and that they'll buy what they like, not what the ads tell them to buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renzo-rosso/we-assumed-the-customers-were-smart-and-that-they-ll-buy-what-they/) [Renzo Rosso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renzo-rosso/) Browse all 856 Ads quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The seedword is always so ordinary that hardly anyone perceives it. Classical odes grow from and or because, romantic lyrics from but and if. Immature verses expand a personal pronoun ad nauseam, the greatest works bring glory to a common verb. Good poems, therefore, are always close to banality, over which, however, they tower like precipices.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alasdair Gray" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-one-word-by-adding-a-number/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ads" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-one-word-by-adding-a-number/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alasdair-gray-13383_ads_a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-on_323620.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word…” — Alasdair Gray", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alasdair Gray", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A good poem is a tautology....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-one-word-by-adding-a-number/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-one-word-by-adding-a-number/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```