--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I read Spencer Madsen’s poetry, I…" description: "\"When I read Spencer Madsen’s poetry, I not only feel awe because he’s so good, one of the best, but I also think about how everything in the world is h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/dennis-cooper-32504_awe_when-i-read-spencer-madsen-s-poetry-i-no_2516322.jpg" --- # When I read Spencer Madsen’s poetry, I not only feel awe… ![“When I read Spencer Madsen’s poetry, I not only feel awe because he’s so good, one of the best, but I also think about how everything in the world is happening at the same time, and how the world we get to know is so heavily edited down. It’s the hugest, weirdest feeling. I wish Spencer Madsen…” quote by Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/dennis-cooper-32504_awe_when-i-read-spencer-madsen-s-poetry-i-no_2516322.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/dennis-cooper-32504_awe_when-i-read-spencer-madsen-s-poetry-i-no_2516322.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/dennis-cooper-32504_awe_when-i-read-spencer-madsen-s-poetry-i-no_2516322.jpg) > “When I read Spencer Madsen’s poetry, I not only feel awe because he’s so good, one of the best, but I also think about how everything in the world is happening at the same time, and how the world we get to know is so heavily edited down. It’s the hugest, weirdest feeling. I wish Spencer Madsen could be everywhere at once. I really love You Can Make Anything Sad.” [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art can feel both awe‑inspiring and overwhelming, highlighting how reality is edited and fragmented. **In simple terms:** Art shows life’s fragmented, edited nature. Key Takeaway Embrace complexity and imperfection. Themes art creativity fragmentation wonder editorship Mood thoughtful curious Type critical inspirational When to use this quote - music criticism - poetry analysis - media studies - philosophy Key Concepts aesthetic experience subjective reality simultaneity Questions to Reflect On - How does editing shape our worldview? - Can we ever truly experience everything? A Different Perspective The desire for omnipresence can be unattainable and isolating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awe/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The aesthetic event is something as evident, as immediate, as indefinable as love, the taste of fruit, as water. We feel poetry as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-aesthetic-event-is-something-as-evident-as-immediate-as/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“A poem was a box for your soul. That was the point. It was the place where you could save bits of yourself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-ashworth/a-poem-was-a-box-for-your-soul-that-was-the-point-it-was-the-place-2/) Andrea Ashworth > [“A poem was a box for your soul. That was the point. It was the place where you could save bits of yourself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-ashworth/a-poem-was-a-box-for-your-soul-that-was-the-point-it-was-the-place/) Andrea Ashworth > [“Poetry is not about how we feel, of course. It’s about how we feel about how we feel. Knowing how we feel about how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-blevins/poetry-is-not-about-how-we-feel-of-course-it-s-about-how-we-feel/) Adrian Blevins > [Journalism is concerned with events, poetry with feelings. Journalism is concerned with the look of the world, poetry with the feel of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/journalism-is-concerned-with-events-poetry-with-feelings-journalism/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Songs like 'Everything To Help You Sleep' or 'Claws in Your Back' took a little bit more grappling with the actual poetry for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-baker/songs-like-everything-to-help-you-sleep-or-claws-in-your-back-took-a/) [Julien Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-baker/) > [And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/and-at-least-in-poetry-you-should-feel-free-to-lie-that-is-not-to-lie/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/if-i-read-a-book-and-it-makes-my-whole-body-so-cold-no-fire-can-warm/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Poetry, I feel, is a tyrannical discipline, you've got to go so far, so fast, in such a small space that you've just got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/poetry-i-feel-is-a-tyrannical-discipline-you-ve-got-to-go-so-far-so-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Poetry, I feel, is a tyrannical discipline. You've got to go so far so fast in such a small space; you've got to burn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/poetry-i-feel-is-a-tyrannical-discipline-you-ve-got-to-go-so-far-so/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I find everything poetic, and it’s in the corners of my heart which are sometimes mysterious that I catch a glimpse of poetry… I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/i-find-everything-poetic-and-it-s-in-the-corners-of-my-heart-which/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [And a lot of times in slam poetry I feel like people are so worried about the performance that the words might not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-tamblyn/and-a-lot-of-times-in-slam-poetry-i-feel-like-people-are-so-worried/) [Amber Tamblyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-tamblyn/) > [Spanish and English have such different music, and in my own poetry I feel much less drawn to fluid sounds than I do toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-larkin/spanish-and-english-have-such-different-music-and-in-my-own-poetry-i/) [Joan Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-larkin/) > [The aesthetic event is something as evident, as immediate, as indefinable as love, the taste of fruit, of water. We feel poetry as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-aesthetic-event-is-something-as-evident-as-immediate-as-2/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect piece of poetry. I always feel at peace and moved when I recite it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-quant/the-lord-s-prayer-is-the-most-perfect-piece-of-poetry-i-always-feel/) [Mary Quant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-quant/) ## More by Dennis Cooper > [Why is it I feel a new nostalgia for the era of the guillotine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/why-is-it-i-feel-a-new-nostalgia-for-the-era-of-the-guillotine/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [A lot of writers do think of their characters as living beings. I know that's the way people think. That's why I try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/a-lot-of-writers-do-think-of-their-characters-as-living-beings-i-know/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [“Emotional. Out of his mind grateful. Anything goes. I love you, I love you, I love you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/emotional-out-of-his-mind-grateful-anything-goes-i-love-you-i-love/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [Before I decided to concentrate on writing, I drew pictures and painted, and made Super 8 experimental movies. I was the singer in three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/before-i-decided-to-concentrate-on-writing-i-drew-pictures-and/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [Cult writer. It's a weird term because it's complimentary but condescending at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/cult-writer-it-s-a-weird-term-because-it-s-complimentary-but/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [I think pornography is a very rich medium, and I've studied it closely and learned quite a lot as a writer from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/i-think-pornography-is-a-very-rich-medium-and-i-ve-studied-it-closely/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [My novels tend to take a long time to become exactly what they're going to be. They're fluid messes until I've done a ton…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/my-novels-tend-to-take-a-long-time-to-become-exactly-what-they-re/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [I was thinking a lot about music, about how music is mixed and how everything is happening at the same time; it just amounts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/i-was-thinking-a-lot-about-music-about-how-music-is-mixed-and-how/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [“When a child grows old enough to know J.R.R. Tolkien was just staring at a typewriter, the truth can be a wounding exposé.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/when-a-child-grows-old-enough-to-know-j-r-r-tolkien-was-just-staring/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [“I'm a talentless but popular young singer and I have the feeling someone is watching me. I use the term loosely because I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/i-m-a-talentless-but-popular-young-singer-and-i-have-the-feeling/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [“But here I am blocking the view of this simple scene, like a director who accidentally walks in front of his own projector, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/but-here-i-am-blocking-the-view-of-this-simple-scene-like-a-director/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [Dan thought of love as defined by books, cobwebbed and hidden from view by the past. Too bad a love like that didn't actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/dan-thought-of-love-as-defined-by-books-cobwebbed-and-hidden-from/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [“When I started writing I was a sick teenaged fuck inside who partly thought I was the new Marquis de Sade, a body doomed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/when-i-started-writing-i-was-a-sick-teenaged-fuck-inside-who-partly/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [I want to love someone so selflessly that he would never even think about going away. I suppose that's what most people want. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/i-want-to-love-someone-so-selflessly-that-he-would-never-even-think/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) [Explore all 15 Dennis Cooper quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) ## More Awe quotes > [Because I've never had any higher education of any sort, I've never held in awe those who have had it or have a sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/because-i-ve-never-had-any-higher-education-of-any-sort-i-ve-never/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. Every single time you lift off the bone and open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/when-i-look-at-the-human-brain-i-m-still-in-awe-of-it-every-single/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [“I know you deserve better than me. You think I don’t know that? But if there was any woman made for me … it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-know-you-deserve-better-than-me-you-think-i-don-t-know-that-but-if/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [There are certain scenes that would awe an atheist into belief without the help of any other argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gray/there-are-certain-scenes-that-would-awe-an-atheist-into-belief/) [Thomas Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gray/) > [As we contemplate with reverence and awe how our Savior embraces us, comforts us, and heals us, let us commit to become His hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/as-we-contemplate-with-reverence-and-awe-how-our-savior-embraces-us/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-journey-deep-into-coma-outside-this-lowly-physical-realm-and-into/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [Awe combined with intimacy is the essence of Christian worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/awe-combined-with-intimacy-is-the-essence-of-christian-worship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“Oftentimes we call Life bitter names, but only when we ourselves are bitter and dark. And we deem her empty and unprofitable, but only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/oftentimes-we-call-life-bitter-names-but-only-when-we-ourselves-are/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [The laws of nature are the skeleton of the universe. They support it, give it shape, tie it together. Taken as a whole, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-trefil/the-laws-of-nature-are-the-skeleton-of-the-universe-they-support-it/) James Trefil > [When you look at yourself and feel dissatisfaction about any part of you, you will continue to attract feelings of dissatisfaction, because the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/when-you-look-at-yourself-and-feel-dissatisfaction-about-any-part-of/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? 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