--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Insofar as poetry has a social function…" description: "\"Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.\" — Denise Levertov" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png" --- # Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken… ![“Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.” quote by Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png) > “Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.” [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry’s social role is to awaken awareness gently, not through shock. **In simple terms:** Poetry awakens people subtly, not violently. Key Takeaway Use poetry to inspire thoughtful change. Themes art social change awakening subtlety communication Mood inspirational thoughtful Type literary social When to use this quote - education - community workshops - literary events - personal reflection Key Concepts poetics social function empathy Questions to Reflect On - How can poetry gently provoke action? - When is shock more effective than subtlety? A Different Perspective Shock may be needed for urgent issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awaken Sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awaken-sleepers-3004111/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Insofar Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insofar-poetry-3004112/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-social-1455258/) [Shock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shock/) [Sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleepers/) [Sleepers Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleepers-means-3004113/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [The most painful thing in life is to wake up from a dream and find no way out. Dreamers are fortunate people. If no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-to-wake-up-from-a-dream-and-find-no/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [“. . . poetry, like all imaginative creations, divines the human enterprise. This is poetry's social value.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/major-jackson/poetry-like-all-imaginative-creations-divines-the-human-enterprise/) [Major Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/major-jackson/) > [For an American, there's no automatic place where people love the art of poetry. There's not a social class that considers poetry its property…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/for-an-american-there-s-no-automatic-place-where-people-love-the-art/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [When you're on a sleeper at night, take your pocketbook and put it in a sock under your pillow. That way, the next morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ping-bodie/when-you-re-on-a-sleeper-at-night-take-your-pocketbook-and-put-it-in/) [Ping Bodie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ping-bodie/) > [Since I last slept, kept takin' sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faithless/since-i-last-slept-kept-takin-sleepers/) [Faithless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faithless/) > [The spring rains woke the dormant tillers, and bright green shoots sprang from the moist earth and rose like sleepers stretching after a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/the-spring-rains-woke-the-dormant-tillers-and-bright-green-shoots/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/you-can-be-active-with-the-activists-or-sleep-in-with-the-sleepers/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [All the sleepers in a night of delution beholding so many dreams. In this world of darkness, only those who sever themselves from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-the-sleepers-in-a-night-of-delution-beholding-so-many-dreams-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sleeping people are so remote… Right here, but out of communication. That's what strikes humans as uncanny about sleep. Its utter privacy. The sleeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/sleeping-people-are-so-remote-right-here-but-out-of-communication/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Ecology is a dirty seven-letter word to many people. They are like heavy sleepers refusing to be aroused. "Leave me alone! It's not time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/ecology-is-a-dirty-seven-letter-word-to-many-people-they-are-like/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The town was glad with morning light; places that had shown ugly and distrustful all night long, now wore a smile; and sparkling sunbeams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-town-was-glad-with-morning-light-places-that-had-shown-ugly-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper, to shake the complacent pillars of the world. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-bethune/the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-disturb-his-duty-is-to-arouse-the/) [Norman Bethune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-bethune/) > [Oft in the silence of the night, When the lonely moon rides high, When wintry winds are whistling, And we hear the owl's shrill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/oft-in-the-silence-of-the-night-when-the-lonely-moon-rides-high-when/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Wherever I went I felt like the last person awake in a room full of sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/wherever-i-went-i-felt-like-the-last-person-awake-in-a-room-full-of/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) ## More by Denise Levertov > [Death and pain dominate this world, for though many are cured, they leave still weak, still tremulous, still knowing mortality has whispered to them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/death-and-pain-dominate-this-world-for-though-many-are-cured-they/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [The artist must create himself or be born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/the-artist-must-create-himself-or-be-born-again/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [I believe every space and comma is a living part of the poem and has its function, just as every muscle and pore of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/i-believe-every-space-and-comma-is-a-living-part-of-the-poem-and-has/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [Each part of speech a spark awaiting redemption, each a virtue, a power in abeyance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/each-part-of-speech-a-spark-awaiting-redemption-each-a-virtue-a-power/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [It is fatal to one's artistic life to talk about something this is in process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/it-is-fatal-to-one-s-artistic-life-to-talk-about-something-this-is-in/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [If woman is inconstant, good, I am faithful to ebb and flow, I fall in season and now is a time of ripening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/if-woman-is-inconstant-good-i-am-faithful-to-ebb-and-flow-i-fall-in/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [Putting his hope in certain death, lowering his head again to the grass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/putting-his-hope-in-certain-death-lowering-his-head-again-to-the-grass/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [slowly the pale dew-beads of light lapped up from flowers can thicken, darken to gold: honey of the human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/slowly-the-pale-dew-beads-of-light-lapped-up-from-flowers-can-thicken/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [“I am, a shadow that grows longer as the sun moves, drawn out on a thread of wonder. If I bear burdens they begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/i-am-a-shadow-that-grows-longer-as-the-sun-moves-drawn-out-on-a/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [In city, in suburb, in forest, no way to stretch out the arms - so if you would grow, go straight up or deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/in-city-in-suburb-in-forest-no-way-to-stretch-out-the-arms-so-if-you/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [I like to find what's not found at once, but lies within something of another nature, in repose, distinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/i-like-to-find-what-s-not-found-at-once-but-lies-within-something-of/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [There is no savor more sweet, more salt than to be glad to be what, woman, and who, myself, I am...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/there-is-no-savor-more-sweet-more-salt-than-to-be-glad-to-be-what/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [This wild night, gathering the washing as if it were flowers animal vines twisting over theline and slapping my face lightly, soundless merriment in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/this-wild-night-gathering-the-washing-as-if-it-were-flowers-animal/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [The fire in leaf and grass so green it seems each summer the last summer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/the-fire-in-leaf-and-grass-so-green-it-seems-each-summer-the-last/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [I see him across the street, the blind man, and now he says he can find his way. He knows where he is going,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/i-see-him-across-the-street-the-blind-man-and-now-he-says-he-can-find/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) [Explore all 110 Denise Levertov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) ## More Function quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/if-i-had-to-guess-and-put-a-name-on-it-i-d-say-that-at-some-point-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [ \[Islam\] Leaves no room of human legislation in an Islamic state, because herein all legislative functions vest in God and the only function left… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abul-a-la-maududi/islam-leaves-no-room-of-human-legislation-in-an-islamic-state-because/) [Abul A'la Maududi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abul-a-la-maududi/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [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/) > [Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/much-of-what-i-saw-in-geneva-really-disillusioned-me-about-how-my/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Some writers say they cannot write in front of a window; many say they cannot function without almost perfect quiet. A writer with only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/some-writers-say-they-cannot-write-in-front-of-a-window-many-say-they/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/to-know-the-order-of-nature-and-regard-the-universe-as-orderly-is-the/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The function of the law is not to provide justice or to preserve freedom. The function of the law is to keep those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/the-function-of-the-law-is-not-to-provide-justice-or-to-preserve/) [Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/) > [Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-siegel/early-experience-shapes-the-structure-and-function-of-the-brain-this/) [Daniel J. Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-siegel/) > [If the mind is dominated by hatred, the best part of the brain, which is used to judge right and wrong, does not function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/if-the-mind-is-dominated-by-hatred-the-best-part-of-the-brain-which/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) [Browse all 2,964 Function quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Denise Levertov" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function-it-is-to-awaken-sleepers-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Function" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function-it-is-to-awaken-sleepers-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/denise-levertov-4487_function_insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function_2737798.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.” — Denise Levertov", "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": "Denise Levertov", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Insofar as poetry has a social...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function-it-is-to-awaken-sleepers-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/insofar-as-poetry-has-a-social-function-it-is-to-awaken-sleepers-by/#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 } } ] } ```