--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter…" description: "\"“Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme scheme-and my mind is free verse.”\" — Holly Schindler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg" --- # Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme… ![“Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme scheme-and my mind is free verse.” quote by Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg) > ““Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme scheme-and my mind is free verse.”” [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She likens sanity to a structured poem, while her mind feels unrestricted and improvisational. **In simple terms:** Sanity is structured; mind is free. Key Takeaway Embrace both order and spontaneity. Themes mental health creativity structure freedom Mood contemplative creative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - writing - artistic work - mindfulness practice Key Concepts Poetry Psychology Self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How does structure help you? - When does free verse benefit you? A Different Perspective Too much freedom can feel chaotic without grounding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Free verse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-verse/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Sanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanity/) ## Related quotes > [I want to prove that if you write in strict meter and rhyme about subjects people care about, they will buy poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/i-want-to-prove-that-if-you-write-in-strict-meter-and-rhyme-about/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [“Civil Sanity (Sonnet 1631) You know what the problem is! We question love more than we question hate. We question humility more than we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/civil-sanity-sonnet-1631-you-know-what-the-problem-is-we-question/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it? Yes. Mrs. Whatsit said. You're given the form,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/you-mean-you-re-comparing-our-lives-to-a-sonnet-a-strict-form-but/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [In your language you have a form of poetry called the sonnet…There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That’s a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/in-your-language-you-have-a-form-of-poetry-called-the-sonnet-there/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“In the poetry of arrival, the garage door is free verse; the front door can be anything from a rhyming couplet to a sonnet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akiko-busch/in-the-poetry-of-arrival-the-garage-door-is-free-verse-the-front-door/) Akiko Busch > [“If there has been one overriding change in poetic practice, it is that under the influence of free verse the poets have made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-langford/if-there-has-been-one-overriding-change-in-poetic-practice-it-is-that/) Martin Langford > [“Dead Butterfly By Ellen Bass For months my daughter carried a dead monarch in a quart mason jar. To and from school in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/dead-butterfly-by-ellen-bass-for-months-my-daughter-carried-a-dead/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“vers libre," (free verse) or nine-tenths of it, is not a new metre any more than sleeping in a ditch is a new school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/vers-libre-free-verse-or-nine-tenths-of-it-is-not-a-new-metre-any/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“If You Knew What if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone? If you were taking tickets, for example, at the theater,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/if-you-knew-what-if-you-knew-you-d-be-the-last-to-touch-someone-if/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“A midst deceit I found the truth; there in the rough I found a diamond. And from the moment we met, I think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-dicristino/a-midst-deceit-i-found-the-truth-there-in-the-rough-i-found-a-diamond/) Donato DiCristino > [Free verse is chained in sentence-to-sentence links and breaks free in line breaks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/free-verse-is-chained-in-sentence-to-sentence-links-and-breaks-free/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Teenagers are free verse walking around on two legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/teenagers-are-free-verse-walking-around-on-two-legs/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [“I am a poet writing frenetic free verse I am pretentious”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-h-hanson/i-am-a-poet-writing-frenetic-free-verse-i-am-pretentious/) Michael H. Hanson > [Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to free verse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/among-those-today-who-believe-that-modern-poetry-must-do-without/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [“Leaches Ten Tall by Stewart Stafford Don't play this game with me, Predatory whelk of tide pools, Taint me as Rigoletto to a bawd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/leaches-ten-tall-by-stewart-stafford-don-t-play-this-game-with-me/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) ## More by Holly Schindler > [“The heart is a compass, steers us back to the thing we loved the most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/the-heart-is-a-compass-steers-us-back-to-the-thing-we-loved-the-most/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“Just touching her makes me want to immerse myself, put my head completely under the surface of her. I want to drift, to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/just-touching-her-makes-me-want-to-immerse-myself-put-my-head/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“He's standing in a cluster of black T-shirts - together, they look like the wilted petals on a single dead flower.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/he-s-standing-in-a-cluster-of-black-t-shirts-together-they-look-like/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“As we stand there, it hits me how quickly everything changes - how life is like peering into a kaleidoscope, and just as you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/as-we-stand-there-it-hits-me-how-quickly-everything-changes-how-life/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“...Early summer fireflies are beginning to dance above the spindly green stalks of weeds like lonesome boys looking for something beautiful and shiny to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/early-summer-fireflies-are-beginning-to-dance-above-the-spindly-green/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“When I got close to him, he smelled clean and steamy, like a late June-rain. And I was reduced to a ridiculous, blubbering pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/when-i-got-close-to-him-he-smelled-clean-and-steamy-like-a-late-june/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“His skin radiates so much of the day's heat that touching him feels like wading into the lake, opening my hand, and catching one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/his-skin-radiates-so-much-of-the-day-s-heat-that-touching-him-feels/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“A camera winks at me from high in the bleachers like we're sharing a secret. Fans in the home section of the Fair Grove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/a-camera-winks-at-me-from-high-in-the-bleachers-like-we-re-sharing-a/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“They say it's the woman's prerogative to change her mind. But that's wrong. Guys are the one who get to say, "You know what?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/they-say-it-s-the-woman-s-prerogative-to-change-her-mind-but-that-s/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“There's a book of poetry in the lines of my hands that no one wants to read”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/there-s-a-book-of-poetry-in-the-lines-of-my-hands-that-no-one-wants/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“The heart is a compass. It points you to the thing you love the most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/the-heart-is-a-compass-it-points-you-to-the-thing-you-love-the-most/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“For the first time in what seems like eons, my body doesn't feel so clenched, so hot. And suddenly, I realize that the dot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/for-the-first-time-in-what-seems-like-eons-my-body-doesn-t-feel-so/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“Occasionally, family members may reach a point in which they cannot tolerate the odd behavior of the schizophrenic any longer. Often, this leads them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/occasionally-family-members-may-reach-a-point-in-which-they-cannot/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“Let’s run, she wanted to beg him. Let’s run, let’s run . . . But then again, she knew what happened to a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/let-s-run-she-wanted-to-beg-him-let-s-run-let-s-run-but-then-again/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) > [“But I felt like I'd made a journey to the land of fairytales only to find out that the magical world was identical to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/but-i-felt-like-i-d-made-a-journey-to-the-land-of-fairytales-only-to/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) [Explore all 23 Holly Schindler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) ## More Free verse quotes > [“Leaches Ten Tall by Stewart Stafford Don't play this game with me, Predatory whelk of tide pools, Taint me as Rigoletto to a bawd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/leaches-ten-tall-by-stewart-stafford-don-t-play-this-game-with-me/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to free verse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/among-those-today-who-believe-that-modern-poetry-must-do-without/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [“I am a poet writing frenetic free verse I am pretentious”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-h-hanson/i-am-a-poet-writing-frenetic-free-verse-i-am-pretentious/) Michael H. Hanson > [Teenagers are free verse walking around on two legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/teenagers-are-free-verse-walking-around-on-two-legs/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Free verse is chained in sentence-to-sentence links and breaks free in line breaks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/free-verse-is-chained-in-sentence-to-sentence-links-and-breaks-free/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [“A midst deceit I found the truth; there in the rough I found a diamond. And from the moment we met, I think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-dicristino/a-midst-deceit-i-found-the-truth-there-in-the-rough-i-found-a-diamond/) Donato DiCristino > [“If You Knew What if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone? If you were taking tickets, for example, at the theater,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/if-you-knew-what-if-you-knew-you-d-be-the-last-to-touch-someone-if/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“vers libre," (free verse) or nine-tenths of it, is not a new metre any more than sleeping in a ditch is a new school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/vers-libre-free-verse-or-nine-tenths-of-it-is-not-a-new-metre-any/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Dead Butterfly By Ellen Bass For months my daughter carried a dead monarch in a quart mason jar. To and from school in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-bass/dead-butterfly-by-ellen-bass-for-months-my-daughter-carried-a-dead/) [Ellen Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-bass/) > [“If there has been one overriding change in poetic practice, it is that under the influence of free verse the poets have made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-langford/if-there-has-been-one-overriding-change-in-poetic-practice-it-is-that/) Martin Langford > [“In the poetry of arrival, the garage door is free verse; the front door can be anything from a rhyming couplet to a sonnet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akiko-busch/in-the-poetry-of-arrival-the-garage-door-is-free-verse-the-front-door/) Akiko Busch > [“in the end it is words poetry. sunsets someone’s deep blue silk voice. mountain scents. someone’s smile. eyes. that we have no defenses against.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/in-the-end-it-is-words-poetry-sunsets-someone-s-deep-blue-silk-voice/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [Modernism in other arts brought extreme difficulty. In poetry, the characteristic difficulty imported under the name of modernism was obscurity. But obscurity could just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/modernism-in-other-arts-brought-extreme-difficulty-in-poetry-the/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Free verse'? You may as well call sleeping in a ditch 'free architecture'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/free-verse-you-may-as-well-call-sleeping-in-a-ditch-free-architecture/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morgan/if-a-poem-is-not-memorable-there-s-probably-something-wrong-one-of/) [Robert Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morgan/) [Browse all 57 Free verse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-verse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme scheme-and my mind is free verse.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Holly Schindler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-and-rhyme-scheme-and-my-mind/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Free verse" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-and-rhyme-scheme-and-my-mind/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/holly-schindler-25528_free-verse_sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-a_622084.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme scheme-and my mind is free verse.” — Holly Schindler", "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": "Holly Schindler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Sanity is a sonnet with a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-and-rhyme-scheme-and-my-mind/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/sanity-is-a-sonnet-with-a-strict-meter-and-rhyme-scheme-and-my-mind/#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 } } ] } ```