--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've never been able to write poetry…" description: "\"I've never been able to write poetry without having vast tracts of dead time. Poetry requires a certain kind of disciplined indolence that the world, i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/christian-wiman-10211_able_i-ve-never-been-able-to-write-poetry-wit_2255370.jpg" --- # I've never been able to write poetry without having vast… ![“I've never been able to write poetry without having vast tracts of dead time. Poetry requires a certain kind of disciplined indolence that the world, including many prose writers, doesn't recognize as discipline. It is, though. It's the discipline to endure hours that you refuse to fill with…” quote by Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/christian-wiman-10211_able_i-ve-never-been-able-to-write-poetry-wit_2255370.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/christian-wiman-10211_able_i-ve-never-been-able-to-write-poetry-wit_2255370.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/christian-wiman-10211_able_i-ve-never-been-able-to-write-poetry-wit_2255370.jpg) > “I've never been able to write poetry without having vast tracts of dead time. Poetry requires a certain kind of disciplined indolence that the world, including many prose writers, doesn't recognize as discipline. It is, though. It's the discipline to endure hours that you refuse to fill with anything but the possibility of poetry, though you may in fact not be able to write a word of it just then, and though it may be playing practical havoc with your life. It's the discipline of preparedness.” [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry demands a deliberate, idle state where one waits for inspiration, treating that waiting as disciplined preparation despite its disruptive nature. **In simple terms:** Poetry needs patient, purposeful idleness. Key Takeaway Embrace idle time as creative preparation. Themes creativity discipline patience Mood reflective contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing poetry - creative blocks - daily routine - mental health - artistic practice Key Concepts indolence preparedness inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance idle creative time with daily obligations? - What rituals help you turn waiting into inspiration? A Different Perspective The approach can hinder productivity and strain responsibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Endure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endure/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Havoc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/havoc/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Indolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indolence/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-having-5167333/) [Poetry Requires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-requires-729748/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Practicals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practicals/) [Preparedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preparedness/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuse/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-poetry/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Write Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-poetry/) [Writers Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-doesn-5167334/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It’s never going to be very mainstream. One reason is that poetry requires concentration, both on the part of the writer and the reader.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-armitage/it-s-never-going-to-be-very-mainstream-one-reason-is-that-poetry/) [Simon Armitage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-armitage/) > [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/) > [“...The end is so immense, it is its own poetry. It requires little rhetoric. Just state it plainly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-end-is-so-immense-it-is-its-own-poetry-it-requires-little/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [The difference between prose logic and poetic thought is simple. The logician uses words as a builder uses bricks, for the unemotional deadness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-difference-between-prose-logic-and-poetic-thought-is-simple-the/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Sitting with some of the other members of the Scholastic Decathlon team, quiet, studious Martha Cox heard snatches of the lunchtime poetry. Her ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-alfonsi/sitting-with-some-of-the-other-members-of-the-scholastic-decathlon/) [Alice Alfonsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-alfonsi/) > [“The reason his father has no time for poetry is that he is afraid of the messiness of life. Poetry feeds on all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/the-reason-his-father-has-no-time-for-poetry-is-that-he-is-afraid-of/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [As long as the sun shall rise goes the old lover's vow, but we are children of a scientific age and have no time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/as-long-as-the-sun-shall-rise-goes-the-old-lover-s-vow-but-we-are/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [The woods are lovely, dark, and deep but I have promises to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-woods-are-lovely-dark-and-deep-but-i-have-promises-to-keep/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [I realised I'd spent a lot of time in my poetry trying to find a way of talking about that whereof we cannot speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/i-realised-i-d-spent-a-lot-of-time-in-my-poetry-trying-to-find-a-way/) [John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/) > [I'll say that this is probably the best time for poetry since the T'ang dynasty. All the rest of the world is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hamill/i-ll-say-that-this-is-probably-the-best-time-for-poetry-since-the-t/) [Sam Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-hamill/) > [This will be a good time for poetry, you know, when things get darker and stranger and your very speech is being questioned and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/this-will-be-a-good-time-for-poetry-you-know-when-things-get-darker/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [When something is too beautiful or too terrible or even too funny for words, then it is time for poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-merriam/when-something-is-too-beautiful-or-too-terrible-or-even-too-funny-for/) [Eve Merriam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-merriam/) > [ Poets are political, they have to be reflections of their times \[because\] they're living in their times... Poetry is political in that it's standing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cusack/poets-are-political-they-have-to-be-reflections-of-their-times/) [John Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cusack/) > [No time for poetry but exactly what is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/no-time-for-poetry-but-exactly-what-is/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [There's always a need at a critical time for poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/there-s-always-a-need-at-a-critical-time-for-poetry/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## More by Christian Wiman > [I find myself continually falling back into wounds, wishes, terrors I thought I had risen beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-find-myself-continually-falling-back-into-wounds-wishes-terrors-i/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Intellectuals and artists concerned with faith tend to underestimate the radical, inviolable innocence it requires. We read and read, write long, elaborate essays and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/intellectuals-and-artists-concerned-with-faith-tend-to-underestimate/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Wonder is the precondition for all wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/wonder-is-the-precondition-for-all-wisdom/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [We should be suspicious when God's call conforms so neatly to our own inclinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/we-should-be-suspicious-when-god-s-call-conforms-so-neatly-to-our-own/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [God is with us, not beyond us, in suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/god-is-with-us-not-beyond-us-in-suffering/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Let us remember...that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/let-us-remember-that-in-the-end-we-go-to-poetry-for-one-reason-so/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, My God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-am-a-christian-because-of-that-moment-on-the-cross-when-jesus/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [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/) > [“How many loves fail because, in an unconscious effort to make our weaknesses more strong, we link with others precisely at those points? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/how-many-loves-fail-because-in-an-unconscious-effort-to-make-our/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“It is a strange thing how sometimes merely to talk honestly of God, even if it is only to articulate our feelings of separation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/it-is-a-strange-thing-how-sometimes-merely-to-talk-honestly-of-god/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Faith cannot save you from the claims of reason, except insofar as it preserves and protects that wonderful, terrible time when reason, if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/faith-cannot-save-you-from-the-claims-of-reason-except-insofar-as-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“part of my enjoyment of life had always been an unconscious assumption of its continuity. Not necessarily a continuity of reality itself—the moment does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/part-of-my-enjoyment-of-life-had-always-been-an-unconscious/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I suppose I do believe that the greatest art consoles a wound that it creates, that art can give you the capacity to endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-suppose-i-do-believe-that-the-greatest-art-consoles-a-wound-that-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [There is nothing more difficult to outgrow than anxieties that have become useful to us, whether as explanations for a life that never quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-outgrow-than-anxieties-that-have/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) [Explore all 67 Christian Wiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. 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This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've never been able to write poetry without having vast tracts of dead time. Poetry requires a certain kind of disciplined indolence that the world, including many prose writers, doesn't recognize as discipline. It is, though. 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