--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion…" description: "\"“Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity are among the most valuable devices of the skilled poet, means by which the poem opens to let us..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png" --- # Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity are… ![“Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity are among the most valuable devices of the skilled poet, means by which the poem opens to let us in.” quote by John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png) > ““Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity are among the most valuable devices of the skilled poet, means by which the poem opens to let us in.”” [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poets use incompleteness and ambiguity to invite readers into the poem’s world. **In simple terms:** Poets leave gaps for readers to fill. Key Takeaway Embrace ambiguity to deepen engagement. Themes poetry creativity interpretation communication Mood inspirational analytical Type literary creative When to use this quote - reading poetry - writing workshops - literary analysis Key Concepts literary theory aesthetics reader response Questions to Reflect On - How does ambiguity shape your reading? - When does ambiguity hinder understanding? A Different Perspective Ambiguity can confuse and alienate some audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Incompleteness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompleteness/) [Means Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/means-poem-785418/) [Poem Opens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem-opens-785417/) [Poet Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet-means-785419/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Skilled Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skilled-poet-785416/) ## Related quotes > [“He wishes he were a skilled poet, it would fit his chosen image perfectly; the poor, tragic, tortured artiste. 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I know some poets whose daily behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forough-farrokhzad/i-believe-in-being-a-poet-in-all-moments-of-life-being-a-poet-means/) [Forough Farrokhzad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forough-farrokhzad/) > [This superficial blurring has something to do with the incapacity I have just mentioned. I can make no statement about reality clearer than my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/this-superficial-blurring-has-something-to-do-with-the-incapacity-i/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [The biography of a writer - or even the autobiography - will always have this incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/the-biography-of-a-writer-or-even-the-autobiography-will-always-have/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [“Egoism is itself incompleteness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/egoism-is-itself-incompleteness/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [For me, there's the certain focus points that come out, which could reference a song or a pop disco, or something really abstract. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-tompkins/for-me-there-s-the-certain-focus-points-that-come-out-which-could/) [Sue Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-tompkins/) > [ “Interesting-sounding, supposed applications of the incompleteness theorem \[here earlier taken explicitly to refer to the incompleteness theorems as a whole\] outside mathematics, therefore, often… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torkel-franz/interesting-sounding-supposed-applications-of-the-incompleteness/) [Torkel Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torkel-franz/) > [How wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. . . . We are to find God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/how-wrong-it-is-to-use-god-as-a-stop-gap-for-the-incompleteness-of/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/every-part-is-disposed-to-unite-with-the-whole-that-it-may-thereby/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [In whatever you do, if you leave a sense of incompleteness, then Creation cannot resent you, ghosts and spirits cannot harm you. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-whatever-you-do-if-you-leave-a-sense-of-incompleteness-then/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Our emotional life maps our incompleteness: A creature without any needs would never have reasons for fear, or grief, or hope, or anger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-c-nussbaum/our-emotional-life-maps-our-incompleteness-a-creature-without-any/) [Martha C. Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-c-nussbaum/) > [Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists. . . . When we are parted, we each feel the lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/today-i-begin-to-understand-what-love-must-be-if-it-exists-when-we/) [Aroha Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroha-janet/) > [“I am afraid I am going to drift into fiction, truthful but incomplete, for lack of some details which I cannot conjure up today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonora-carrington/i-am-afraid-i-am-going-to-drift-into-fiction-truthful-but-incomplete/) [Leonora Carrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonora-carrington/) ## More by John Ciardi > [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/modern-art-is-what-happens-when-painters-stop-looking-at-girls-and/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [The day will happen whether or not you get up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/the-day-will-happen-whether-or-not-you-get-up/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [But when the pen is in his hand he has to write by itch and twitch, though certainly his itch and twitch are intimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/but-when-the-pen-is-in-his-hand-he-has-to-write-by-itch-and-twitch/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [Who could believe an ant in theory? 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Did her parents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/there-was-a-young-lady-from-gloucester-who-complained-that-her/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [One night I dreamed I was locked in my Father's watch With Ptolemy and twenty-one ruby stars Mounted on spheres and the Primum Mobile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/one-night-i-dreamed-i-was-locked-in-my-father-s-watch-with-ptolemy/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/gentility-is-what-is-left-over-from-rich-ancestors-after-the-money-is/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [The classroom should be an entrance into the world, not an escape from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/the-classroom-should-be-an-entrance-into-the-world-not-an-escape-from/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [Boys are the cash of war. Whoever said: we're not free spenders- doesn't know our like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/boys-are-the-cash-of-war-whoever-said-we-re-not-free-spenders-doesn-t/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [“Hell is the denial of the ordinary...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/hell-is-the-denial-of-the-ordinary/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [General rules have been legislated into being by past masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/general-rules-have-been-legislated-into-being-by-past-masters/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [Written by a sponge dipped in warm milk and sprinkled with sugar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/written-by-a-sponge-dipped-in-warm-milk-and-sprinkled-with-sugar/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/love-is-the-word-used-to-label-the-sexual-excitement-of-the-young-the/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [A man is what he does with his attention and mine is not for sale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/a-man-is-what-he-does-with-his-attention-and-mine-is-not-for-sale/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) [Explore all 67 John Ciardi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) ## More Incompleteness quotes > [“I am afraid I am going to drift into fiction, truthful but incomplete, for lack of some details which I cannot conjure up today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonora-carrington/i-am-afraid-i-am-going-to-drift-into-fiction-truthful-but-incomplete/) [Leonora Carrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonora-carrington/) > [Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists. . . . When we are parted, we each feel the lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/today-i-begin-to-understand-what-love-must-be-if-it-exists-when-we/) [Aroha Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroha-janet/) > [Our emotional life maps our incompleteness: A creature without any needs would never have reasons for fear, or grief, or hope, or anger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-c-nussbaum/our-emotional-life-maps-our-incompleteness-a-creature-without-any/) [Martha C. Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-c-nussbaum/) > [In whatever you do, if you leave a sense of incompleteness, then Creation cannot resent you, ghosts and spirits cannot harm you. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-whatever-you-do-if-you-leave-a-sense-of-incompleteness-then/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/every-part-is-disposed-to-unite-with-the-whole-that-it-may-thereby/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [How wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. . . . We are to find God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/how-wrong-it-is-to-use-god-as-a-stop-gap-for-the-incompleteness-of/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [ “Interesting-sounding, supposed applications of the incompleteness theorem \[here earlier taken explicitly to refer to the incompleteness theorems as a whole\] outside mathematics, therefore, often… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torkel-franz/interesting-sounding-supposed-applications-of-the-incompleteness/) [Torkel Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torkel-franz/) > [For me, there's the certain focus points that come out, which could reference a song or a pop disco, or something really abstract. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-tompkins/for-me-there-s-the-certain-focus-points-that-come-out-which-could/) [Sue Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-tompkins/) > [“Egoism is itself incompleteness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/egoism-is-itself-incompleteness/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [The biography of a writer - or even the autobiography - will always have this incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/the-biography-of-a-writer-or-even-the-autobiography-will-always-have/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [This superficial blurring has something to do with the incapacity I have just mentioned. I can make no statement about reality clearer than my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/this-superficial-blurring-has-something-to-do-with-the-incapacity-i/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [ ...Bliss is not something to be got. On the other hand you are always Bliss. This desire \[for Bliss\] is born of the sense… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/bliss-is-not-something-to-be-got-on-the-other-hand-you-are-always/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [“The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-imperfection-and-usually/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Dark Souls is in some ways an incomplete game, and I like to think that it has been completed by players, by their discoveries,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hidetaka-miyazaki/dark-souls-is-in-some-ways-an-incomplete-game-and-i-like-to-think/) [Hidetaka Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hidetaka-miyazaki/) > [But, as we have before been led to remark, most of Mr. Darwin's statements elude, by their vagueness and incompleteness, the test of Natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/but-as-we-have-before-been-led-to-remark-most-of-mr-darwin-s/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) [Browse all 62 Incompleteness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompleteness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity are among the most valuable devices of the skilled poet, means by which the poem opens to let us in.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Ciardi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-and-ambiguity-are-among-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Incompleteness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-and-ambiguity-are-among-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/john-ciardi-10262_incompleteness_such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-a_1663660.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity are among the most valuable devices of the skilled…” — John Ciardi", "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": "John Ciardi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Such perfect incompleteness, suggestion and ambiguity...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-and-ambiguity-are-among-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/such-perfect-incompleteness-suggestion-and-ambiguity-are-among-the/#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 } } ] } ```