--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is like walking along a little…" description: "\"Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to be a plunge. I thin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/josephine-jacobsen-71855_dangerous_poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-ti_37474.jpg" --- # Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge… ![“Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to be a plunge. I think poetry is dangerous. There's nothing mild and predictable about poetry.” quote by Josephine Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/josephine-jacobsen-71855_dangerous_poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-ti_37474.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/josephine-jacobsen-71855_dangerous_poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-ti_37474.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/josephine-jacobsen-71855_dangerous_poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-ti_37474.jpg) > “Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to be a plunge. I think poetry is dangerous. There's nothing mild and predictable about poetry.” Josephine Jacobsen ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry is an unpredictable, risky art that can lead to profound emotional drops, never safe or formulaic. **In simple terms:** Poetry is perilous and uncertain. Key Takeaway Poetry defies predictability. Themes risk creativity emotion uncertainty artistic expression Mood intense thoughtful Type observation philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary criticism - creative writing classes - personal reflection Key Concepts poetry danger exploration Practical Applications - teaching poetic form - inspiring experimental writing Questions to Reflect On - How does embracing risk affect poetic voice? - What makes poetry feel dangerous to you? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Next step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-step/) [Next steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-steps/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [What poetry does above all else is develop sensibility. And that's what makes poetry so dangerous. That's why poetry is so good at undermining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hamill/what-poetry-does-above-all-else-is-develop-sensibility-and-that-s/) [Sam Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-hamill/) > [Poetry is a dangerous profession between conflict and resolution, between feeling and thought, between becoming and being, between the ultra-personal and the universal -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/poetry-is-a-dangerous-profession-between-conflict-and-resolution/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Poetry can be dangerous, especially beautiful poetry, because it gives the illusion of having had the experience without actually going through it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/poetry-can-be-dangerous-especially-beautiful-poetry-because-it-gives/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Poetry is a dangerous gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-aguilar/poetry-is-a-dangerous-gift/) [Grace Aguilar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-aguilar/) > [This assumption that the blue collar crowd is not supposed to read it, or a farmer in his overalls is not to read poetry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/this-assumption-that-the-blue-collar-crowd-is-not-supposed-to-read-it/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“It was language I loved, not meaning. I liked poetry better when I wasn't sure what it meant. Eliot has said that the meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-was-language-i-loved-not-meaning-i-liked-poetry-better-when-i-wasn/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People in power tend to find poetry dangerous to them because it is dislocating, they can't catch it, can't control it. They prefer coherence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elia-suleiman/people-in-power-tend-to-find-poetry-dangerous-to-them-because-it-is/) [Elia Suleiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elia-suleiman/) > [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/) > [I don't think poetry has a readership anywhere, really, that's that big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-don-t-think-poetry-has-a-readership-anywhere-really-that-s-that-big/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [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/) > [I think poetry always lives its life, and people come to it and people go away from it, 'people' in the sense of larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-k-williams/i-think-poetry-always-lives-its-life-and-people-come-to-it-and-people/) [C. K. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-k-williams/) > [Poetry can save the world. I'm a real believer in its power of healing and transforming. I wish more people read it ... Poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-muske-dukes/poetry-can-save-the-world-i-m-a-real-believer-in-its-power-of-healing/) Carol Muske-Dukes > [I think poetry involves heightened noticing or imagining as well as creating a certain made shape. On the other hand, that shape can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthea-harvey/i-think-poetry-involves-heightened-noticing-or-imagining-as-well-as/) [Matthea Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthea-harvey/) > [I suppose there's something to be said for the sheer reinforcement of our beliefs, but really I think poetry is more useful as disenchantment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-suppose-there-s-something-to-be-said-for-the-sheer-reinforcement-of/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I rarely think of poetry as something I make happen; it is more accurate to say that it happens to me. Like a summer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-rarely-think-of-poetry-as-something-i-make-happen-it-is-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More by Josephine Jacobsen > [“I love the process of being taken from where I am to somewhere else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-jacobsen/i-love-the-process-of-being-taken-from-where-i-am-to-somewhere-else/) Josephine Jacobsen > [“And the illiterate body says hush, in love, says hush; says, whatever word can serve, it is not here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-jacobsen/and-the-illiterate-body-says-hush-in-love-says-hush-says-whatever/) Josephine Jacobsen > [I work better the more I am confined and the less I am distracted. My ultimate place would be a closet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-jacobsen/i-work-better-the-more-i-am-confined-and-the-less-i-am-distracted-my/) Josephine Jacobsen Explore all 4 Josephine Jacobsen quotes ## More Dangerous quotes > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/every-one-knows-that-the-exercise-of-military-power-is-forever/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. 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So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The more people that learn about you, even if you're an underdog, then you can come under fire a lot and the more attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/the-more-people-that-learn-about-you-even-if-you-re-an-underdog-then/) [Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The proliferation of right-to-carry laws throughout the states has drawn plaintive complaints from the criminal element. They feel that it makes their profession too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/the-proliferation-of-right-to-carry-laws-throughout-the-states-has/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) Browse all 6,450 Dangerous quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to be a plunge. I think poetry is dangerous. 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