--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm very conscious of the fact that every…" description: "\"I'm very conscious of the fact that every line should have a cadence to it. It should contribute to the progress of the poem. And that the ending of th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png" --- # I'm very conscious of the fact that every line should have… ![“I'm very conscious of the fact that every line should have a cadence to it. It should contribute to the progress of the poem. And that the ending of the line is a way of turning the reader's attention back into the interior of the poem.” quote by Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png) > “I'm very conscious of the fact that every line should have a cadence to it. It should contribute to the progress of the poem. And that the ending of the line is a way of turning the reader's attention back into the interior of the poem.” [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Each line should have a rhythm that advances the poem and redirects the reader inward. **In simple terms:** Lines need rhythm and purpose. Key Takeaway Write with cadence that guides focus. Themes poetry structure rhythm Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary instructional When to use this quote - writing poetry - editing drafts - reading aloud Key Concepts meter reader engagement Questions to Reflect On - How does cadence affect comprehension? - When should rhythm be sacrificed for clarity? A Different Perspective A line may feel forced if rhythm overrides meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cadence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cadence/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) ## Related quotes > [“That girl you can’t stop thinking about; the one that makes you feel shit you don’t think you’re allowed to feel; Dillon, she can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melyssa-winchester/that-girl-you-can-t-stop-thinking-about-the-one-that-makes-you-feel/) [Melyssa Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melyssa-winchester/) > [ Often they \[writers on the study of management\] have a point of view based upon intuition and experience. They then offer a cadence of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/often-they-writers-on-the-study-of-management-have-a-point-of-view/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [I feel that as a writer and as a performer too. I never really thought about backstory for characters. It was much more of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brady-corbet/i-feel-that-as-a-writer-and-as-a-performer-too-i-never-really-thought/) [Brady Corbet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brady-corbet/) > [I come from the belief that all good films find their time whether it's on opening week or sometime later. That's certainly true with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-pitt/i-come-from-the-belief-that-all-good-films-find-their-time-whether-it/) [Brad Pitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-pitt/) > [And what, then, is belief? It is the demi-cadence which closes a musical phrase in the symphony of our intellectual life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/and-what-then-is-belief-it-is-the-demi-cadence-which-closes-a-musical/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [The fundamental truth: a baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/the-fundamental-truth-a-baseball-game-is-nothing-but-a-great-slow/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“Rhythm. Life is full of it; words should have it, too. But you have to train your ear. Listen to the waves on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-gordon/rhythm-life-is-full-of-it-words-should-have-it-too-but-you-have-to/) [Arthur Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-gordon/) > [Your cadence is your music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shatner/your-cadence-is-your-music/) [William Shatner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shatner/) > [I could still smell her on my fur. It clung to me, a memory of another world. I was drunk with it, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/i-could-still-smell-her-on-my-fur-it-clung-to-me-a-memory-of-another/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [Fine declamation does not consist in flowery periods, delicate allusions of musical cadences, but in a plain, open, loose style, where the periods are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/fine-declamation-does-not-consist-in-flowery-periods-delicate/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“a faster cadence put less stress on the muscles, transferring the load from the physical (the muscle fibers) to a better place: the cardiovascular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hamilton/a-faster-cadence-put-less-stress-on-the-muscles-transferring-the-load/) [Tyler Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hamilton/) > [“Jennifer now understood the meaning of the cadence: the black and white drawing, the watercolor painting,and the notes. The cadence had at last developed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-casey/jennifer-now-understood-the-meaning-of-the-cadence-the-black-and/) [Barbara Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-casey/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Harmony is the inner cadence of contentment we feel when the melody of life is in tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/harmony-is-the-inner-cadence-of-contentment-we-feel-when-the-melody/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [Action is the music of our life. Like music, it starts from a pause of leisure, a silence of activity which our initiative attacks;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-de-madariaga/action-is-the-music-of-our-life-like-music-it-starts-from-a-pause-of/) [Salvador de Madariaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-de-madariaga/) ## More by Billy Collins > [“The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I’m coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache Or the headaches I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/the-whole-idea-of-it-makes-me-feel-like-i-m-coming-down-with/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [...pleasure, of course, is a slippery word… Our pleasures ultimately belong to us, not to the pleasure's so](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/pleasure-of-course-is-a-slippery-word-our-pleasures-ultimately-belong/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I stared up at the ebbing quarter moon and the stars scattered like a handful of salt across the faraway sky...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-stared-up-at-the-ebbing-quarter-moon-and-the-stars-scattered-like-a/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Death is what makes life fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/death-is-what-makes-life-fun/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [A trouble with poetry is the presence of presumptuousness in poetry, the sense you get in a poem that the poet takes for granted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/a-trouble-with-poetry-is-the-presence-of-presumptuousness-in-poetry/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [You come by your style by learning what to leave out. At first you tend to overwrite—embellishment instead of insight. You either continue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/you-come-by-your-style-by-learning-what-to-leave-out-at-first-you/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [But my heart is always propped up in a field on its tripod, ready for the next arrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/but-my-heart-is-always-propped-up-in-a-field-on-its-tripod-ready-for/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I can hear the library humming in the night, a choir of authors murmuring inside their books along the unlit, alphabetical shelves, Giovanni Pontano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-can-hear-the-library-humming-in-the-night-a-choir-of-authors/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Every Day Is for the Thief is a vivid, episodic evocation of the truism that you can't go home again; but that doesn't mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/every-day-is-for-the-thief-is-a-vivid-episodic-evocation-of-the/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Humor, for me, is really a gate of departure. Its a way of enticing a reader into a poem so that less funny things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/humor-for-me-is-really-a-gate-of-departure-its-a-way-of-enticing-a/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [You know how sometimes you just have a memory of looking up and seeing a face looking over your crib and then remember nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/you-know-how-sometimes-you-just-have-a-memory-of-looking-up-and/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Usually the poems are written in one sitting. There's always a groping towards some satisfying ending. But I'd say the hardest part is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/usually-the-poems-are-written-in-one-sitting-there-s-always-a-groping/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I was influenced by the Beats because I actually just began to commit adolescence around 1955, when "Howl" and Rebel Without a Cause and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-was-influenced-by-the-beats-because-i-actually-just-began-to-commit/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Some difficulty is warranted and other difficulty I think is gratuitous. And I think I can tell the difference. There are certainly very difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/some-difficulty-is-warranted-and-other-difficulty-i-think-is/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) [Explore all 141 Billy Collins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm very conscious of the fact that every line should have a cadence to it. It should contribute to the progress of the poem. And that the ending of the line is a way of turning the reader's attention back into the interior of the poem.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Billy Collins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-every-line-should-have-a-cadence/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attention" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-every-line-should-have-a-cadence/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/billy-collins-3004_attention_i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-ever_2723087.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm very conscious of the fact that every line should have a cadence to it. It should contribute to the…” — Billy Collins", "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": "Billy Collins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm very conscious of the fact...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-every-line-should-have-a-cadence/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-m-very-conscious-of-the-fact-that-every-line-should-have-a-cadence/#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 } } ] } ```