--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense…" description: "\"Poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense (Spence, Anecdotes\" — Isaac Barrow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/isaac-barrow-13537_anecdotes_poetry-is-a-kind-of-ingenious-nonsense-s_719762.jpg" --- # Poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense (Spence, Anecdotes ![“Poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense (Spence, Anecdotes” quote by Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/isaac-barrow-13537_anecdotes_poetry-is-a-kind-of-ingenious-nonsense-s_719762.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/isaac-barrow-13537_anecdotes_poetry-is-a-kind-of-ingenious-nonsense-s_719762.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/isaac-barrow-13537_anecdotes_poetry-is-a-kind-of-ingenious-nonsense-s_719762.jpg) > “Poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense (Spence, Anecdotes” [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) ## 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 suggests that poetry blends creativity with apparent absurdity, revealing deeper insight through playful language. **In simple terms:** Poetry mixes cleverness with nonsense to uncover truths. Key Takeaway Embrace playful creativity. Themes creativity language insight Mood thoughtful curious reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching literature - personal reflection - artistic experimentation Key Concepts literature paradox expression Questions to Reflect On - How does absurdity enhance meaning? - When does play become distraction? A Different Perspective Nonsense can obscure meaning if not balanced with clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anecdotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdotes/) [Ingenious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ingenious/) [Ingenious Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ingenious-nonsense-4670472/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Nonsense Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense-spence-5659716/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-is/) [Poetry Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-kind-613318/) [Spence Anecdotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spence-anecdotes-5659717/) ## Related quotes > [Poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/poetry-is-a-kind-of-ingenious-nonsense/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [“Some girls are full of heartache and poetry and those are the kind of girls who try to save wolves instead of running away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-gill/some-girls-are-full-of-heartache-and-poetry-and-those-are-the-kind-of/) [Nikita Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-gill/) > [Poetry is a kind of magic that very few can create and even fewer can truly understand and appreciate in all its glory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-gabor/poetry-is-a-kind-of-magic-that-very-few-can-create-and-even-fewer-can/) [Dennis Gabor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-gabor/) > [contemporary poetry is a kind of Reykjavik, a place where accessibility and intelligence have been fighting a Cold War by proxy for the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/contemporary-poetry-is-a-kind-of-reykjavik-a-place-where/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [I believe that there is a kind of poetry, even a kind of truth, in simple fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/i-believe-that-there-is-a-kind-of-poetry-even-a-kind-of-truth-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Poetry, at least the kind I write, is written out of immediate need; it is written out of pain, joy, and experience too great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/poetry-at-least-the-kind-i-write-is-written-out-of-immediate-need-it/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Poetry has always been made to seem kind of cultish. But the truth is, everybody really loves it! It's much more mainstream than anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/poetry-has-always-been-made-to-seem-kind-of-cultish-but-the-truth-is/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [Fine art, poetry, that kind of thing, elevates a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/fine-art-poetry-that-kind-of-thing-elevates-a-nation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “For \[W. B.\] Yeats magic was not so much a kind of poetry as poetry a kind of magic, and the object of both… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-raine/for-w-b-yeats-magic-was-not-so-much-a-kind-of-poetry-as-poetry-a-kind/) [Kathleen Raine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-raine/) > [I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-decided-that-it-was-not-wisdom-that-enabled-poets-to-write-their/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [I think poetry's always a kind of faith. It is the kind that I have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/i-think-poetry-s-always-a-kind-of-faith-it-is-the-kind-that-i-have/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [I find it strange that - at least in my take on it - the people who are the most alarmed about the dire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-find-it-strange-that-at-least-in-my-take-on-it-the-people-who-are/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I mean, there's an aspect I've always said that is - it's, you know, it's not poetry but it's kind of like it. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/i-mean-there-s-an-aspect-i-ve-always-said-that-is-it-s-you-know-it-s/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [I think poetry can be a kind of secular way in which people can be led to approach the difficult parts of their life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/i-think-poetry-can-be-a-kind-of-secular-way-in-which-people-can-be/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [The reason I often say, for me, photography is analogous to poetry, for my kind of work more so than journalism, is because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-soth/the-reason-i-often-say-for-me-photography-is-analogous-to-poetry-for/) [Alec Soth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-soth/) ## More by Isaac Barrow > [No adversity is in kind or degree peculiar to us; but if we survey the conditions of other men (of our brethren everywhere, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/no-adversity-is-in-kind-or-degree-peculiar-to-us-but-if-we-survey-the/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [An accomplished mathematician, i.e. a most wretched orator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/an-accomplished-mathematician-i-e-a-most-wretched-orator/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [We may be as good as we please, if we please to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/we-may-be-as-good-as-we-please-if-we-please-to-be-good/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [If we desire to live securely, comfortably, and quietly, that by all honest means we should endeavor to purchase the good will of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/if-we-desire-to-live-securely-comfortably-and-quietly-that-by-all/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [He that loveth a book will never want a faithful friend, a wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, an effectual comforter. 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He was a brilliant, colorful man who left us with thousands of memories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-huston/why-should-i-ever-get-fed-up-talking-about-my-father-he-was-a/) [Danny Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-huston/) > [If you would stick to the concrete, and put your discoveries in the form of entertaining anecdotes about your adventures with women, your conversation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-you-would-stick-to-the-concrete-and-put-your-discoveries-in-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Painters were also attorneys, happy storytellers of anecdote, psychologists, botanists, zoologists, archaeologists, engineers, but there were no creative painters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazimir-malevich/painters-were-also-attorneys-happy-storytellers-of-anecdote/) [Kazimir Malevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazimir-malevich/) > [Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/art-isn-t-anecdote-it-s-the-consciousness-we-bring-to-bear-in-our/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Men grind and grind in the mill of a truism, and nothing comes out but what was put in. 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