--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every…" description: "\"“Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment. I read poetry. I am somebody. I am the people, too. It can be allowed that an industriou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/c-d-wright-28793_american-poetry_nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every_2999069.jpg" --- # Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune… ![“Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment. I read poetry. I am somebody. I am the people, too. It can be allowed that an industrious quantity of contemporary American poetry is consciously written for a hermetic constituency; the bulk is written for the bourgeoisie, leaving a…” quote by C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/c-d-wright-28793_american-poetry_nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every_2999069.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/c-d-wright-28793_american-poetry_nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every_2999069.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/c-d-wright-28793_american-poetry_nobody-reads-poetry-we-are-told-at-every_2999069.jpg) > ““Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment. I read poetry. I am somebody. I am the people, too. It can be allowed that an industrious quantity of contemporary American poetry is consciously written for a hermetic constituency; the bulk is written for the bourgeoisie, leaving a lean cut for labor. Only the hermetically aimed has a snowball's chance in hell of reaching its intended ears. One proceeds from this realization. A staggering figure of vibrant, intelligent people can and do live without poetry, especially without the poetry of their time. This figure includes the unemployed, the rank and file, the union brass, banker, scientist, lawyer, doctor, architect, pilot, and priest. It also includes most academics, most of the faculty of the humanities, most allegedly literary editors and most allegedly literary critics. They do so--go forward in their lives, toward their great reward, in an engulfing absence of poetry--without being perceived or perceiving themselves as hobbled or deficient in any significant way. It is nearly true, though I am often reminded of a Transtromer broadside I saw in a crummy office building in San Francisco: We got dressed and showed the house You live well the visitor said The slum must be inside you. If I wanted to understand a culture, my own for instance, and if I thought such an understanding were the basis for a lifelong inquiry, I would turn to poetry first. For it is my confirmed bias that the poets remain the most 'stunned by existence,' the most determined to redeem the world in words..”” [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry is essential for understanding culture, yet many ignore it, missing deeper insight. **In simple terms:** Poetry reveals culture; many overlook it. Key Takeaway Read poetry to grasp cultural depth. Themes culture poetry awareness elitism Mood thoughtful critical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - education - media consumption - art appreciation - academic curricula Key Concepts literary criticism social stratification Questions to Reflect On - Why do people avoid poetry? - How can poetry become more inclusive? A Different Perspective Poetry may feel inaccessible to some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-poetry/) [Intelligent people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-people/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [San francisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/san-francisco/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [When people decide to talk publicly about poetry as an art form and how it's received, they often get very abject about it: "Nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-myles/when-people-decide-to-talk-publicly-about-poetry-as-an-art-form-and/) [Eileen Myles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-myles/) > [Thanks partly to the kind of poets that we now have and partly to funding, there's been a gigantic shift in the way poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/thanks-partly-to-the-kind-of-poets-that-we-now-have-and-partly-to/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [Poetry, I'm often told, is something made of words. I think it really goes the other way around: words are made of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/poetry-i-m-often-told-is-something-made-of-words-i-think-it-really/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [“Destruction perfects that which is good; for the good cannot appear on account of that which conceals it. The good is least good whilst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paracelsus-philippus-aureolus-theophrastus-bombastus-von-hohenheim/destruction-perfects-that-which-is-good-for-the-good-cannot-appear-on/) Paracelsus Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim > [ \[Stéphane Mallarmé\] theory of the hermetic is a mistake, but he can be only difficult to read when he has difficult things to say. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/st-phane-mallarm-theory-of-the-hermetic-is-a-mistake-but-he-can-be/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“The word of sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy wife, if she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/the-word-of-sin-is-restriction-o-man-refuse-not-thy-wife-if-she-will/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [“The average man may be capable of benefiting by initiation, or he may not; it also depends upon his capacity; but each individual should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-fortune/the-average-man-may-be-capable-of-benefiting-by-initiation-or-he-may/) [Dion Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-fortune/) > [The more one reads poetry, the less tolerant one becomes of any sort of verbosity, be that in political or philosophical discourse, be that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/the-more-one-reads-poetry-the-less-tolerant-one-becomes-of-any-sort/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“I go in and slip a note in Jane's locker, which I've gotten in the habit of doing. It's always just a line or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-go-in-and-slip-a-note-in-jane-s-locker-which-i-ve-gotten-in-the/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Nobody reads poetry anymore So who the hell are you I see bent over this book?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-ristovic/nobody-reads-poetry-anymore-so-who-the-hell-are-you-i-see-bent-over/) Aleksandar Ristovic > [Who, except the poets, reads poetry?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babette-deutsch/who-except-the-poets-reads-poetry/) [Babette Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babette-deutsch/) > [“I said I wouldn’t be the kind of boyfriend who reads her poetry, and I’m not, but I guess I am the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-said-i-wouldn-t-be-the-kind-of-boyfriend-who-reads-her-poetry-and-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-think-the-best-american-poetry-is-the-poetry-that-utilizes-the/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [ Probably the high-watermark of \[Bob\] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/probably-the-high-watermark-of-bob-dylan-s-career-came-after-he/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [I'm educating myself more about world poetry. I know a lot about contemporary American poetry, so I felt I needed to learn more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-joseph/i-m-educating-myself-more-about-world-poetry-i-know-a-lot-about/) [Allison Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-joseph/) ## More by C.D. Wright > [There is an idealism associated with poetry I would not dispel but question. It doesn't change anything except within. It shifts your insides around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/there-is-an-idealism-associated-with-poetry-i-would-not-dispel-but/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Poetry is the language of intensity. Because we are going to die, an expression of intensity is justified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/poetry-is-the-language-of-intensity-because-we-are-going-to-die-an/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside us that would be free, and declare them so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/it-is-a-function-of-poetry-to-locate-those-zones-inside-us-that-would/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Almost none of the poetries I admire stick to their labels, native or adopted ones. Rather, they are vagrant in their identifications. Tramp poets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/almost-none-of-the-poetries-i-admire-stick-to-their-labels-native-or/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [“I believe the word used wrongly distorts the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/i-believe-the-word-used-wrongly-distorts-the-world/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [One opinion I share with the Dadaists is that art-making presupposes a revolutionary state of mind. Assimilating the practice into commodity or symbol of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/one-opinion-i-share-with-the-dadaists-is-that-art-making-presupposes/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Poetry is a necessity of life,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/poetry-is-a-necessity-of-life/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Poetry requires deliberate movement in its direction, a filament of faith in its persistence, receptivity to its fundamental worthwhileness. Within its unanesthetized heart there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/poetry-requires-deliberate-movement-in-its-direction-a-filament-of/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [“If the incision of our words amounts to nothing but a feeling, a slow motion, it will still cut a better swath than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/if-the-incision-of-our-words-amounts-to-nothing-but-a-feeling-a-slow/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Poetry seems especially like nothing else so much as itself. Poetry is not like, it is the very lining of the inner life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/poetry-seems-especially-like-nothing-else-so-much-as-itself-poetry-is/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [The artistic reward for refuting the received national tradition is liberation. The price is homelessness. Interior exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/the-artistic-reward-for-refuting-the-received-national-tradition-is/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [I have taught the long poem off and on for years. The more book-length poems I read and studied and taught the more interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/i-have-taught-the-long-poem-off-and-on-for-years-the-more-book-length/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Everyone in their car needs love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/everyone-in-their-car-needs-love/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [I think a book-length poem stands about as good a chance as a collection of individual poems in reaching its field of ears. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/i-think-a-book-length-poem-stands-about-as-good-a-chance-as-a/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [“If religion, she also liked to say, is the opiate of the masses, fundamentalism is the amphetamine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/if-religion-she-also-liked-to-say-is-the-opiate-of-the-masses/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) [Explore all 19 C.D. Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) ## More American poetry quotes > [I'm educating myself more about world poetry. I know a lot about contemporary American poetry, so I felt I needed to learn more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-joseph/i-m-educating-myself-more-about-world-poetry-i-know-a-lot-about/) [Allison Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-joseph/) > [ Probably the high-watermark of \[Bob\] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/probably-the-high-watermark-of-bob-dylan-s-career-came-after-he/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-think-the-best-american-poetry-is-the-poetry-that-utilizes-the/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“Mr Rutger cornet de Groot. Never read any American poetry or any other foreign poetry, which is why he always mentions 2 poets as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martinus-hendrikus-benders/mr-rutger-cornet-de-groot-never-read-any-american-poetry-or-any-other/) [Martinus Hendrikus Benders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martinus-hendrikus-benders/) > [Kerouac: You're ruining American poetry, O'Hara. O'Hara: That's more than you ever did for it, Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/kerouac-you-re-ruining-american-poetry-o-hara-o-hara-that-s-more-than/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [From reading a previous answer, you know that I consider all those aspects to be part of American cultural myth and thus they figure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/from-reading-a-previous-answer-you-know-that-i-consider-all-those/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [Mandelstam is the sort of poet who comes along very, very rarely. Even the two Russian poets whose work is often linked with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-is-the-sort-of-poet-who-comes-along-very-very-rarely-even/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [American poetry is always about defining oneself individually,claiming one's right to be different and often to break taboos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/american-poetry-is-always-about-defining-oneself-individually/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often with reference to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/distinctly-american-poetry-is-usually-written-in-the-context-of-one-s/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [American poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/american-poetry-like-american-painting-is-always-personal-with-an/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [“LIFE IS NEVER OVER.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-king/life-is-never-over/) [Amy King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-king/) > [“Tell this to ladies: how a hero man Assail a thick and scandalous giant Who casts true shadow in the sun, And die, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowe-ransom/tell-this-to-ladies-how-a-hero-man-assail-a-thick-and-scandalous/) [John Crowe Ransom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowe-ransom/) > [The Astonishment Tapes will now take its place within the growing field of international research about postwar American poetry's important contribution to world literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gizzi/the-astonishment-tapes-will-now-take-its-place-within-the-growing/) [Peter Gizzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gizzi/) > [I don't think the creative writing industry has helped American poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morgan/i-don-t-think-the-creative-writing-industry-has-helped-american-poetry/) [Robert Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morgan/) > [I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/i-definitely-wish-to-distinguish-american-poetry-from-british-or/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) [Browse all 62 American poetry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-poetry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nobody reads poetry, we are told at every inopportune moment. I read poetry. I am somebody. I am the people, too. It can be allowed that an industrious quantity of contemporary American poetry is consciously written for a hermetic constituency; the bulk is written for the bourgeoisie, leaving a lean cut for labor. Only the hermetically aimed has a snowball's chance in hell of reaching its intended ears. One proceeds from this realization. A staggering figure of vibrant, intelligent people can and do live without poetry, especially without the poetry of their time. This figure includes the unemployed, the rank and file, the union brass, banker, scientist, lawyer, doctor, architect, pilot, and priest. It also includes most academics, most of the faculty of the humanities, most allegedly literary editors and most allegedly literary critics. They do so--go forward in their lives, toward their great reward, in an engulfing absence of poetry--without being perceived or perceiving themselves as hobbled or deficient in any significant way. It is nearly true, though I am often reminded of a Transtromer broadside I saw in a crummy office building in San Francisco: We got dressed and showed the house You live well the visitor said The slum must be inside you. If I wanted to understand a culture, my own for instance, and if I thought such an understanding were the basis for a lifelong inquiry, I would turn to poetry first. For it is my confirmed bias that the poets remain the most 'stunned by existence,' the most determined to redeem the world in words..”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.D. 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