--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is what Milton saw when he went…" description: "\"Poetry is what Milton saw when he went blind.\" — Don Marquis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/593/don-marquis-4181_blind_poetry-is-what-milton-saw-when-he-went-b_403286.png" --- # Poetry is what Milton saw when he went blind. ![“Poetry is what Milton saw when he went blind.” quote by Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/593/don-marquis-4181_blind_poetry-is-what-milton-saw-when-he-went-b_403286.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/593/don-marquis-4181_blind_poetry-is-what-milton-saw-when-he-went-b_403286.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/593/don-marquis-4181_blind_poetry-is-what-milton-saw-when-he-went-b_403286.png) > “Poetry is what Milton saw when he went blind.” [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote likens poetry to a vivid inner vision that persists even without physical sight. **In simple terms:** Poetry remains vivid without sight. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner imagination. Themes creativity perception vision Mood reflective introspective Type metaphorical literary When to use this quote - writing - artistic expression - mindfulness Key Concepts subjectivity inner sight Questions to Reflect On - How does blindness affect artistic perception? - Can inner vision replace visual detail? A Different Perspective May overlook external reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Milton, when he went blind, declared that he could now begin the real work of his life. 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Be beautiful on the inside too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-the-whole-world-suddenly-went-blind-how-many-people-would-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I flipped through their visions, left my number in their sleep. But no one called back. I called all night, called for years, called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agha-shahid-ali/i-flipped-through-their-visions-left-my-number-in-their-sleep-but-no/) [Agha Shahid Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agha-shahid-ali/) > [I adopted two children, then I got eye disease and five rounds of surgery. I went blind in one eye, then the other eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-patrick-shanley/i-adopted-two-children-then-i-got-eye-disease-and-five-rounds-of/) [John Patrick Shanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-patrick-shanley/) > [“For Mum, life was fundamentally hell. You went blind, you got raped, people forgot your birthday, Nixon got elected, your husband fled with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/for-mum-life-was-fundamentally-hell-you-went-blind-you-got-raped/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [I've gotten really hot since you went blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-ve-gotten-really-hot-since-you-went-blind/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [When I went blind at 13, I realized that I wasn't going to be a good baseball or basketball player like I enjoyed before.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-weihenmayer/when-i-went-blind-at-13-i-realized-that-i-wasn-t-going-to-be-a-good/) [Erik Weihenmayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-weihenmayer/) > [“Just as I had always feared your precious words they disappeared into my mind as I went blind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-dare/just-as-i-had-always-feared-your-precious-words-they-disappeared-into/) Douglas Dare > [If all my friends went blind.. 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And if I suddenly went blind, Would you still look in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-green/if-i-was-a-simple-man-would-we-still-walk-hand-in-hand-and-if-i/) [Dallas Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-green/) > [“A man who saw has turned blind, A hearer deaf, A leader now leads astray!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-lichtheim/a-man-who-saw-has-turned-blind-a-hearer-deaf-a-leader-now-leads-astray/) [Miriam Lichtheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-lichtheim/) ## More by Don Marquis > [We pay for the mistakes of our ancestors, and it seems only fair that they should leave us the money to pay with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/we-pay-for-the-mistakes-of-our-ancestors-and-it-seems-only-fair-that/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [A certain alloy of expediency improves the gold of morality and makes it wear all the longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/a-certain-alloy-of-expediency-improves-the-gold-of-morality-and-makes/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [In all systems of theology the devil figures as a male person. Yes, it is women who keep the church going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/in-all-systems-of-theology-the-devil-figures-as-a-male-person-yes-it/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [“How often when they find a sage As sweet as Socrates or Plato They hand him hemlock for his wage Or bake him like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/how-often-when-they-find-a-sage-as-sweet-as-socrates-or-plato-they/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [Man cannot be uplifted; he must be seduced into virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/man-cannot-be-uplifted-he-must-be-seduced-into-virtue/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [An optimist is the person who has never had any experience at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/an-optimist-is-the-person-who-has-never-had-any-experience-at-all/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [For all of the creeds are false, and all of the creeds are true; And low at the shrines where my brothers bow, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/for-all-of-the-creeds-are-false-and-all-of-the-creeds-are-true-and/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [“Vibrations are the key to everything. Atoms used to be, but atoms have quite gone out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/vibrations-are-the-key-to-everything-atoms-used-to-be-but-atoms-have/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [Honesty is a good thing, but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/honesty-is-a-good-thing-but-it-is-not-profitable-to-its-possessor/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [I once heard the survivors of a colony of ants that had been partially obliterated by a cow's foot seriously debating the intention of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/i-once-heard-the-survivors-of-a-colony-of-ants-that-had-been/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [He worked like hell in the country so he could live in the city, where he worked like hell so he could live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/he-worked-like-hell-in-the-country-so-he-could-live-in-the-city-where/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [An old stomach reforms more whiskey drinkers than a new resolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/an-old-stomach-reforms-more-whiskey-drinkers-than-a-new-resolve/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [Did you ever notice that when a politician does get an idea he usually gets it all wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/did-you-ever-notice-that-when-a-politician-does-get-an-idea-he/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [Blood will tell, but often it tells too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/blood-will-tell-but-often-it-tells-too-much/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [I get up in the morning with an idea for a three-volume novel and by nightfall it's a paragraph in my column.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/i-get-up-in-the-morning-with-an-idea-for-a-three-volume-novel-and-by/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) [Explore all 115 Don Marquis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) ## More Blind quotes > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. 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Sometimes both are stupid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-bromberg/the-heart-s-blind-it-s-the-head-that-causes-all-the-trouble-sometimes/) [K. Bromberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-bromberg/) > [“In the story of the blind men and the elephant, what’s usually ignored is the fact that each man’s description was correct. What Faye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-hill/in-the-story-of-the-blind-men-and-the-elephant-what-s-usually-ignored/) [Nathan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-hill/) > [My favorite performance would definitely be "Toxic," which was my blind audition song. It was the start of it all and it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/my-favorite-performance-would-definitely-be-toxic-which-was-my-blind/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [Our attitude towards evil must be freed from hatred, and has itself need to be enlightened in character...Satan rejoices when he succeeds in inspiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/our-attitude-towards-evil-must-be-freed-from-hatred-and-has-itself/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) > [If you are the master be sometimes blind, if you are the servant be sometimes deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/if-you-are-the-master-be-sometimes-blind-if-you-are-the-servant-be/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [I'm glad I'm blind and can't see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/i-m-glad-i-m-blind-and-can-t-see-it/) [Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/) > [Shut your eyes and you will know what I mean by thought entombed in darkness. 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