--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is a release of something…" description: "\"Poetry is a release of something previously unknown into the visible. You write to invite that, to make of yourself a gathering of the unexpected and, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/jane-hirshfield-2649_gathering_poetry-is-a-release-of-something-previou_1129903.png" --- # Poetry is a release of something previously unknown into… ![“Poetry is a release of something previously unknown into the visible. You write to invite that, to make of yourself a gathering of the unexpected and, with luck, of the unexpectable.” quote by Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/jane-hirshfield-2649_gathering_poetry-is-a-release-of-something-previou_1129903.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/jane-hirshfield-2649_gathering_poetry-is-a-release-of-something-previou_1129903.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/jane-hirshfield-2649_gathering_poetry-is-a-release-of-something-previou_1129903.png) > “Poetry is a release of something previously unknown into the visible. You write to invite that, to make of yourself a gathering of the unexpected and, with luck, of the unexpectable.” [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry transforms hidden inner experiences into visible expression, inviting unexpected insights. **In simple terms:** Poetry makes hidden feelings visible. Key Takeaway Write to reveal the unseen. Themes creativity self‑discovery expression Mood inspirational introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal journaling - therapy sessions - classroom teaching Key Concepts artistic revelation psychology Questions to Reflect On - What unknown part of yourself could poetry reveal? - How does sharing poetry affect others? A Different Perspective Poetry may not capture all emotions accurately. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknown/) ## Related quotes > [Near even a candle, the visible heat. So it is with a person in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/near-even-a-candle-the-visible-heat-so-it-is-with-a-person-in-love/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Those people who think they know the Gospel, and it doesn't have any meaning for them, they're the people we have to find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-wuerl/those-people-who-think-they-know-the-gospel-and-it-doesn-t-have-any/) [Donald Wuerl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-wuerl/) > [I like to take a long time over breakfast, and I can't bear to talk. If a guest is a breakfast talker it's very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-fellowes/i-like-to-take-a-long-time-over-breakfast-and-i-can-t-bear-to-talk-if/) [Julian Fellowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-fellowes/) > [“Drama does not just walk into our lives. Either we create it, invite it, or associate with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-l-bates/drama-does-not-just-walk-into-our-lives-either-we-create-it-invite-it/) [Brandi L. Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-l-bates/) > [Every year, I do a New Year's day party at my home. I invite my staff and my friends and their kids. Around 40-50…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nobu-matsuhisa/every-year-i-do-a-new-year-s-day-party-at-my-home-i-invite-my-staff/) [Nobu Matsuhisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nobu-matsuhisa/) > [One wrong move is enough to invite unwanted events¦](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mazher-mazher50/one-wrong-move-is-enough-to-invite-unwanted-events/) Mazher (@mazher50 > [To ignore your conscience is to invite trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-bernard/to-ignore-your-conscience-is-to-invite-trouble/) [Tristan Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-bernard/) > [“Leave old pains alone. When they cease coming to call, do not invite them back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/leave-old-pains-alone-when-they-cease-coming-to-call-do-not-invite/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I invite you to not only love each other more but love each other better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-d-parkin/i-invite-you-to-not-only-love-each-other-more-but-love-each-other/) [Bonnie D. Parkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-d-parkin/) > [Fill yourself with Ki, invite the attack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/fill-yourself-with-ki-invite-the-attack/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [The only way all people can have the opportunity to choose or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ is for us, without judgment, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-m-christensen/the-only-way-all-people-can-have-the-opportunity-to-choose-or-reject/) [Clayton M. Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-m-christensen/) > [“To get, simply release, and then gently invite.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/to-get-simply-release-and-then-gently-invite/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [what you fear, you invite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-mccloy/what-you-fear-you-invite/) [Helen McCloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-mccloy/) > [It turns out that the God whose word will stand forever does not exist to insure our fantasies that we will not have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/it-turns-out-that-the-god-whose-word-will-stand-forever-does-not/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [There are bands that I am friends with, who will invite me up on stage. Like Les Savy Fav, who have had me on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-armisen/there-are-bands-that-i-am-friends-with-who-will-invite-me-up-on-stage/) [Fred Armisen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-armisen/) ## More by Jane Hirshfield > [I don't have a cell phone (though for years I've kept saying, "soon").](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-don-t-have-a-cell-phone-though-for-years-i-ve-kept-saying-soon/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As silence is not silence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-piece-of-string-a-phone-call/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [A certain amount of housekeeping also goes on in my poems. I wash doorknobs, do dishes, mop floors, patch carpets, cook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/a-certain-amount-of-housekeeping-also-goes-on-in-my-poems-i-wash/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Self carries grief as a pack mule carries the side bags, being careful between the trees to leave extra room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/self-carries-grief-as-a-pack-mule-carries-the-side-bags-being-careful/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/my-job-as-a-human-being-as-well-as-a-writer-is-to-feel-as-thoroughly/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I want to preserve a certain unknowing about my own poems - perhaps because unknowing is in itself a useful poetic thirst. To move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-want-to-preserve-a-certain-unknowing-about-my-own-poems-perhaps/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Habit, laziness, and fear conspire to keep us comfortably within the familiar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/habit-laziness-and-fear-conspire-to-keep-us-comfortably-within-the/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [In order to gain anything, you must first lose everything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/in-order-to-gain-anything-you-must-first-lose-everything/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [The same words come from each mouth differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/the-same-words-come-from-each-mouth-differently/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Metaphors think with the imagination and the senses. The hot chili peppers in them explode in the mouth and the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/metaphors-think-with-the-imagination-and-the-senses-the-hot-chili/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Your fate is to be yourself, both punishment and crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/your-fate-is-to-be-yourself-both-punishment-and-crime/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Near even a candle, the visible heat. So it is with a person in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/near-even-a-candle-the-visible-heat-so-it-is-with-a-person-in-love/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [At some point I realized that you don't get a full human life if you try to cut off one end of it, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/at-some-point-i-realized-that-you-don-t-get-a-full-human-life-if-you/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Immensity is always there, but we so often become numb to it, or deceive ourselves into thinking our own lives and selves are what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/immensity-is-always-there-but-we-so-often-become-numb-to-it-or/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) [Explore all 156 Jane Hirshfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## More Gathering quotes > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [It’s not just the adage ‘write what you know,’ it’s about gathering up all of the knowledge and experience you’ve collected up to now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kay/it-s-not-just-the-adage-write-what-you-know-it-s-about-gathering-up/) [Sarah Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kay/) > [But I believed in starting over. There was finally, I knew, only rupture and hurt and falling short between all persons, but, Shirley, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/but-i-believed-in-starting-over-there-was-finally-i-knew-only-rupture/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [If you decide on having an alcoholic at your party, make sure it's a large gathering. This way, until the alcoholic begins removing their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/if-you-decide-on-having-an-alcoholic-at-your-party-make-sure-it-s-a/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [“Oh, you mysterious girls, when you are fifty-two we shall find you out; you must come into the open then. If the mouth has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oh-you-mysterious-girls-when-you-are-fifty-two-we-shall-find-you-out/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is familiarity with life that makes time speed quickly. When every day is a step in the unknown, as for children, the days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/it-is-familiarity-with-life-that-makes-time-speed-quickly-when-every/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Popular thought appeals to crowds, gatherings and tribes, who use it as a way to guide the herd. It is very evident in protests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/popular-thought-appeals-to-crowds-gatherings-and-tribes-who-use-it-as/) [Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/) > [I wanted the press to become something of a movement. Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) John Metcalf > [Doors slam, voices are shrill, this is home. We are family. and in our gathering, we pick each other apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/doors-slam-voices-are-shrill-this-is-home-we-are-family-and-in-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Americans are gathering the courage to just say no. We are saying no to addictive consumer lifestyles. We are saying no to wars and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-mckinney/americans-are-gathering-the-courage-to-just-say-no-we-are-saying-no/) [Cynthia McKinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-mckinney/) > [There's a number of journalists and politicians who are interested in the rise of the National Front and the huge nationalist gathering, the movements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/there-s-a-number-of-journalists-and-politicians-who-are-interested-in/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [It's not about doing over the living room of someone who has bad taste in color. This is about restoring historic buildings and instilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-gorder/it-s-not-about-doing-over-the-living-room-of-someone-who-has-bad/) [Genevieve Gorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-gorder/) > [Humor is widely used by Indians to deal with life. 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