--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry must be as new as foam & old as…" description: "\"Poetry must be as new as foam & old as rock.\" — Delmore Schwartz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg" --- # Poetry must be as new as foam & old as rock. ![“Poetry must be as new as foam & old as rock.” quote by Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg) > “Poetry must be as new as foam & old as rock.” [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art must balance freshness and timelessness, merging innovation with enduring truth. **In simple terms:** Poetry needs novelty and permanence. Key Takeaway Blend new ideas with lasting values. Themes creativity tradition artistic balance Mood inspirational thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - classroom curricula - personal journaling Key Concepts aesthetic theory literary craft Questions to Reflect On - What timeless truth can you express anew? - How do you keep work fresh? A Different Perspective Innovation can alienate audiences if not grounded. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rock/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) ## Related quotes > [Poetry must be as new as foam and as old as the rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-and-as-old-as-the-rock/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dismissals of poetry are nothing new. It's easy to dismiss poetry if one has not read much of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/dismissals-of-poetry-are-nothing-new-it-s-easy-to-dismiss-poetry-if/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [With Shakespeare and poetry, a new world was born. New dreams, new desires, a self consciousness was born. I desired to know to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/with-shakespeare-and-poetry-a-new-world-was-born-new-dreams-new/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [I don't write poetry for the New Yorker. My poems appear in the Nation, mostly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-don-t-write-poetry-for-the-new-yorker-my-poems-appear-in-the-nation/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [“The poetry of the new year is problematically punctual. An impeccable guest who arrives on time when you are running frantically behind schedule. Catching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pavithra-k-mehta/the-poetry-of-the-new-year-is-problematically-punctual-an-impeccable/) Pavithra K. Mehta > [Poverty, Poetry, and new Titles of Honor, make Men ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/poverty-poetry-and-new-titles-of-honor-make-men-ridiculous/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Rock stars are like sports stars: If you snap your ankle, you're done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-grohl/rock-stars-are-like-sports-stars-if-you-snap-your-ankle-you-re-done/) [Dave Grohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-grohl/) > [To act choicelessly is to act in accord with the situation. If someone throws a rock, you duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rami-m-shapiro/to-act-choicelessly-is-to-act-in-accord-with-the-situation-if-someone/) [Rami M. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rami-m-shapiro/) > [Rock and roll just used to be for kicks, now a days it's politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/rock-and-roll-just-used-to-be-for-kicks-now-a-days-it-s-politics/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [He has the qualities of a rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/he-has-the-qualities-of-a-rock/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Rock n roll is about drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/rock-n-roll-is-about-drugs/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [Everything is winged in this universe, even a rock! When the time comes, rock crumbles into tiny pieces and starts flying in the air!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/everything-is-winged-in-this-universe-even-a-rock-when-the-time-comes/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [If you think you are too old to rock 'n roll, then you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy-kilmister/if-you-think-you-are-too-old-to-rock-n-roll-then-you-are/) [Lemmy Kilmister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy-kilmister/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) ## More by Delmore Schwartz > [Sometimes even paranoids have enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/sometimes-even-paranoids-have-enemies/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [What was the freedom to which the adult human being rose in the morning, if each act was held back or inspired by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/what-was-the-freedom-to-which-the-adult-human-being-rose-in-the/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [I always cause those who are near to me more suffering than pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/i-always-cause-those-who-are-near-to-me-more-suffering-than-pleasure/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [Love is the tact of every good, The only warmth, the only peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/love-is-the-tact-of-every-good-the-only-warmth-the-only-peace/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [“O your life, your lonely life What have you ever done with it, And done with the great gift of consciousness? What will you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/o-your-life-your-lonely-life-what-have-you-ever-done-with-it-and-done/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [“Time is the school in which we learn, Time is the fire in which we burn. (Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/time-is-the-school-in-which-we-learn-time-is-the-fire-in-which-we/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [I am a book I neither wrote nor read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/i-am-a-book-i-neither-wrote-nor-read/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [Literature doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is money and getting your teeth fixed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/literature-doesn-t-matter-the-only-thing-that-matters-is-money-and/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [Major writing is to say what has been seen, so that it need never be said again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/major-writing-is-to-say-what-has-been-seen-so-that-it-need-never-be/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [What does long life avail? The best seats at the funerals of friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/what-does-long-life-avail-the-best-seats-at-the-funerals-of-friends/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [Is it not clear that a reviewer's psyche, like an iceberg, is seven-eighths beneath the surface?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/is-it-not-clear-that-a-reviewer-s-psyche-like-an-iceberg-is-seven/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [Order and disorder, form and formless must have profound psychological roots, nervous roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/order-and-disorder-form-and-formless-must-have-profound-psychological/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [And hence the poet must seek to be essentially anonymous, He must die a little death each morning, He must swallow his toad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/and-hence-the-poet-must-seek-to-be-essentially-anonymous-he-must-die/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [All literature is an effort at the formal character of the epigram.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/all-literature-is-an-effort-at-the-formal-character-of-the-epigram/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [“Baudelaire" When I fall asleep, and even during sleep, I hear, quite distinctly, voices speaking Whole phrases, commonplace and trivial, Having no relation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/baudelaire-when-i-fall-asleep-and-even-during-sleep-i-hear-quite/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) [Explore all 37 Delmore Schwartz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) ## More Foam quotes > [I liked the taste of beer, its live, white lather, its brass-bright depths, the sudden world through the wet-brown walls of the glass, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-liked-the-taste-of-beer-its-live-white-lather-its-brass-bright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [We did have one work where it looked like the fibreglass was discolouring, but it turned out it was reacting to the foam it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-piccinini/we-did-have-one-work-where-it-looked-like-the-fibreglass-was/) [Patricia Piccinini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-piccinini/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Oh love, rose made wet by mermaids and foams, fire that dances and climbs up the invisible stairs and awakens the blood in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/oh-love-rose-made-wet-by-mermaids-and-foams-fire-that-dances-and/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [It is 8'' long with larg top…when you insert it in a wet cavity and move it in and out it produce larg amount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-8-long-with-larg-top-when-you-insert-it-in-a-wet-cavity-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When a horse falls, foam comes out of its mouth. When it falls, the legs of the horse thrash and the horse is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-medved/when-a-horse-falls-foam-comes-out-of-its-mouth-when-it-falls-the-legs/) Maureen Medved > [Grunt, foam at the mouth, and otherwise get psychic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-annemann/grunt-foam-at-the-mouth-and-otherwise-get-psychic/) [Theodore Annemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-annemann/) > [“I have sea foam in my veins, for I understand the language of waves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-sea-foam-in-my-veins-for-i-understand-the-language-of-waves/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Columbia accident made us realize that we had been playing Russian roulette with the shuttle crews -- that we had been very, very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-hale/the-columbia-accident-made-us-realize-that-we-had-been-playing/) Wayne Hale > [It was close to like a 67- or 70-day shoot for 'Tron' on stage, in the suit. You can't even sit down during the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hedlund/it-was-close-to-like-a-67-or-70-day-shoot-for-tron-on-stage-in-the/) [Garrett Hedlund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hedlund/) > [The clouds are scudding across the moon, A misty light is on the sea; The wind in the shrouds has a wintry tune, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/the-clouds-are-scudding-across-the-moon-a-misty-light-is-on-the-sea/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [But I tell you--and mark my words--you will come some day to a craggy pass in the channel, where the whole of life's stream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/but-i-tell-you-and-mark-my-words-you-will-come-some-day-to-a-craggy/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [No matter how often I think I can't stand it anymore, I always do. There is no alternative. I don't fall, I don't foam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-galloway/no-matter-how-often-i-think-i-can-t-stand-it-anymore-i-always-do/) [Janice Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-galloway/) > [What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness, Star-dust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-lovely-never-dies-but-passes-into-other-loveliness-star-dust/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [You can plan all you want to. You can lie in your morning bed and fill whole notebooks with schemes and intentions. But within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-can-plan-all-you-want-to-you-can-lie-in-your-morning-bed-and-fill/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) Browse all 117 Foam quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry must be as new as foam & old as rock.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Delmore Schwartz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-rock/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Foam" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-rock/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/delmore-schwartz-17231_foam_poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-roc_1916811.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry must be as new as foam & old as rock.” — Delmore Schwartz", "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": "Delmore Schwartz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poetry must be as new as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-rock/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/poetry-must-be-as-new-as-foam-old-as-rock/#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 } } ] } ```