--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim…" description: "\"“I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim was to work my way through English Literature in Prose A–Z. But this was different. I read [in, Murder in the C..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png" --- # I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim was to work my way… ![“I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim was to work my way through English Literature in Prose A–Z. But this was different. I read [in, Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot]: This is one moment, / But know that another / Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy. I started to cry. (…)The…” quote by Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png) > ““I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim was to work my way through English Literature in Prose A–Z. But this was different. I read \[in, Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot\]: This is one moment, / But know that another / Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy. I started to cry. (…)The unfamiliar and beautiful play made things bearable that day, and the things it made bearable were another failed family—the first one was not my fault, but all adopted children blame themselves. The second failure was definitely my fault. I was confused about sex and sexuality, and upset about the straightforward practical problems of where to live, what to eat, and how to do my A levels. I had no one to help me, but the T.S. Eliot helped me. So when people say that poetry is a luxury, or an option, or for the educated middle classes, or that it shouldn’t be read at school because it is irrelevant, or any of the strange and stupid things that are said about poetry and its place in our lives, I suspect that the people doing the saying have had things pretty easy. A tough life needs a tough language—and that is what poetry is. That is what literature offers—a language powerful enough to say how it is. It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place.”” [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry provides a raw, powerful language that can articulate pain, identity, and life's hardships, offering both solace and a means to confront reality. **In simple terms:** Poetry gives a strong voice for suffering and self‑discovery. Key Takeaway Use poetry to process emotions and understand complex experiences. Themes identity language pain self‑discovery solace Mood reflective hopeful introspective Type personal inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - adolescence - mental health struggles - family conflict - sexual identity exploration - academic pressure Key Concepts Existentialism psychology literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - How can poetry be made more approachable for those who feel it’s elitist? - In what ways does confronting pain through art change personal growth? A Different Perspective Poetry may not resonate with everyone; some may find it inaccessible or too abstract. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [English Lit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-lit/) [English literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-literature/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Reading poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-poetry/) [Stupid things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupid-things/) [Tough life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tough-life/) ## Related quotes > [I had no one to help me, but the T. S. Eliot helped me. 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Olson proved that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/pound-had-argued-and-eliot-had-helped-him-prove-that-a-poem-could-be/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [We go to poetry, we go to literature in general, to be forwarded within ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/we-go-to-poetry-we-go-to-literature-in-general-to-be-forwarded-within/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My wife has a beastly habit of comparing poetry -- all literature in fact -- to the droppings of the goats among the rocks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/my-wife-has-a-beastly-habit-of-comparing-poetry-all-literature-in/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [I feel the written word, poetry and literature is just one of the most beautiful things that human beings do. 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Literature speaks how much still to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/like-speaks-to-like-only-labor-to-labor-philosophy-to-philosophy/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Romance is the poetry of literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/romance-is-the-poetry-of-literature/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [Auden said poetry makes nothing happen. But I wonder if the opposite could be true. It could make something happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-ann-duffy/auden-said-poetry-makes-nothing-happen-but-i-wonder-if-the-opposite/) [Carol Ann Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-ann-duffy/) > [Your friend's poetry is terrible," he said. Clary blinked, caught momentarily off guard. "What?" "I said his poetry was terrible. It sounds like he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/your-friend-s-poetry-is-terrible-he-said-clary-blinked-caught/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Is beauty a reminder of something we once knew, with poetry one of its vehicles? Does it give us a brief vision of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/is-beauty-a-reminder-of-something-we-once-knew-with-poetry-one-of-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jeanette Winterson > [“After nine nights must come ten and every desperate meeting only leaves you desperate for another. There is never enough to eat, never enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/after-nine-nights-must-come-ten-and-every-desperate-meeting-only/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. 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What would it have meant if things had been bright, clear, good between us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-would-it-have-meant-to-be-happy-what-would-it-have-meant-if/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“Mrs Ratlow was a widow, and she was head of English, but she still did all the cooking and cleaning for her two sons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/mrs-ratlow-was-a-widow-and-she-was-head-of-english-but-she-still-did/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“I shall have nowt to talk to now the baby is boiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-shall-have-nowt-to-talk-to-now-the-baby-is-boiled/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous. 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/he-turned-away-and-i-turned-to-him-in-vivid-heat-to-look-on-the-sun/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) [Explore all 1,016 Jeanette Winterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [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. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim was to work my way through English Literature in Prose A–Z. But this was different. I read [in, Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot]: This is one moment, / But know that another / Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy. I started to cry. (…)The unfamiliar and beautiful play made things bearable that day, and the things it made bearable were another failed family—the first one was not my fault, but all adopted children blame themselves. The second failure was definitely my fault. I was confused about sex and sexuality, and upset about the straightforward practical problems of where to live, what to eat, and how to do my A levels. I had no one to help me, but the T.S. Eliot helped me. So when people say that poetry is a luxury, or an option, or for the educated middle classes, or that it shouldn’t be read at school because it is irrelevant, or any of the strange and stupid things that are said about poetry and its place in our lives, I suspect that the people doing the saying have had things pretty easy. A tough life needs a tough language—and that is what poetry is. That is what literature offers—a language powerful enough to say how it is. It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeanette Winterson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-was-to-work-my-way-through/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-was-to-work-my-way-through/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/jeanette-winterson-166_books_i-wasn-t-reading-poetry-because-my-aim-w_1191707.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wasn’t reading poetry because my aim was to work my way through English Literature in Prose A–Z. 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