--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A poem is like a score for the human voice." description: "\"A poem is like a score for the human voice.\" — Li-Young Lee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg" --- # A poem is like a score for the human voice. ![“A poem is like a score for the human voice.” quote by Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg) > “A poem is like a score for the human voice.” [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry functions as a musical score, guiding the expression of the human voice. **In simple terms:** Poems are like music for the voice. Key Takeaway Use poetry to shape spoken expression. Themes art language expression Mood inspirational thoughtful Type literary educational When to use this quote - literature - performance - education - therapy Key Concepts poetics musicality voice Questions to Reflect On - How does rhythm influence your speech? - What emotions does poetic structure evoke? A Different Perspective May be abstract for beginners. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-voice/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) ## Related quotes > [I've never really been a numbers guy... I like to score, for sure... but my main thing is I want to win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-kuzma/i-ve-never-really-been-a-numbers-guy-i-like-to-score-for-sure-but-my/) [Kyle Kuzma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-kuzma/) > [I always like to score goals and be there in the box.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-foden/i-always-like-to-score-goals-and-be-there-in-the-box/) [Phil Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-foden/) > [I would like to score many goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/klaas-jan-huntelaar/i-would-like-to-score-many-goals/) [Klaas-Jan Huntelaar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/klaas-jan-huntelaar/) > [We like to score a lot of goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dries-mertens/we-like-to-score-a-lot-of-goals/) [Dries Mertens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dries-mertens/) > [To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope with my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/to-me-a-poem-is-almost-like-someone-whispering-to-another-person-or/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [“Here's another poem, like all others before and after, dedicated to you. There isn't anything left to be said but I will spend my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/here-s-another-poem-like-all-others-before-and-after-dedicated-to-you/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [Poems, to me, do not come from ideas, they come from a series of images that you tuck away in the back of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-kizer/poems-to-me-do-not-come-from-ideas-they-come-from-a-series-of-images/) [Carolyn Kizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-kizer/) > [I feel like the score is a chance for an artist to exercise their voice and augment a film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-mccreary/i-feel-like-the-score-is-a-chance-for-an-artist-to-exercise-their/) [Bear McCreary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-mccreary/) > [I'd like to score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ederson/i-d-like-to-score/) [Ederson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ederson/) > [I always like to score in the big games.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-salah/i-always-like-to-score-in-the-big-games/) [Mohamed Salah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-salah/) > [To write a poem is like trying to catch a lizard without its tail falling off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/to-write-a-poem-is-like-trying-to-catch-a-lizard-without-its-tail/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [A poem is like a radio that can broadcast continuously for thousands of years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/a-poem-is-like-a-radio-that-can-broadcast-continuously-for-thousands/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Poetry is like a portrait of a moment or person, and the poem is almost like looking at a photograph; it slaps you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/poetry-is-like-a-portrait-of-a-moment-or-person-and-the-poem-is/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [A beautiful poem is like a beautiful sky and a beautiful sky is like a beautiful poem!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-beautiful-poem-is-like-a-beautiful-sky-and-a-beautiful-sky-is-like/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Writing a poem is like having an affair, a one-night stand; a short story is a romance, a relationship; a novel is a marriage-one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/writing-a-poem-is-like-having-an-affair-a-one-night-stand-a-short/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## More by Li-Young Lee > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Our bodies look solid, but they arent. Were like a fountain. A fountain of water looks solid, but you can put your fingers right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/our-bodies-look-solid-but-they-arent-were-like-a-fountain-a-fountain/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [I've been thinking about something for a long time, and I keep noticing that most human speech-if not all human speech-is made with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/i-ve-been-thinking-about-something-for-a-long-time-and-i-keep/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [“From blossoms comes this brown paper bag of peaches we bought from the boy at the bend in the road where we turned toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/from-blossoms-comes-this-brown-paper-bag-of-peaches-we-bought-from/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [“Moonlight and high wind. Dark poplars toss, insinuate the sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/moonlight-and-high-wind-dark-poplars-toss-insinuate-the-sea/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [“But, no one can tell without cease our human story, and so we lose, lose”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/but-no-one-can-tell-without-cease-our-human-story-and-so-we-lose-lose/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [“The moon from any window is one part whoever’s looking. The part I can’t see is everything my sister keeps to herself. One part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/the-moon-from-any-window-is-one-part-whoever-s-looking-the-part-i-can/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Poetry is the language of extremity. Poetry is a transfer of potency. You feel something potent and then you transfer it onto the page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/poetry-is-the-language-of-extremity-poetry-is-a-transfer-of-potency/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [We suffer each other to have each other a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/we-suffer-each-other-to-have-each-other-a-while/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Maybe being winged means being wounded by infinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/maybe-being-winged-means-being-wounded-by-infinity/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [“In the uproar, the confusion of accents and inflections how will you hear me when I open my mouth? Look for me, one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/in-the-uproar-the-confusion-of-accents-and-inflections-how-will-you/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Brimming. That's what it is, I want to get to a place where my sentences enact brimming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/brimming-that-s-what-it-is-i-want-to-get-to-a-place-where-my/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [There are days we live as if death were nowhere in the background; from joy to joy to joy, from wing to wing, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/there-are-days-we-live-as-if-death-were-nowhere-in-the-background/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [To pull the metal splinter from my palm my father recited a story in a low voice. I watched his lovely face and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/to-pull-the-metal-splinter-from-my-palm-my-father-recited-a-story-in/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) [Explore all 37 Li-Young Lee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) ## More Human voice quotes > [Our faith is really proven in the way we talk to ourselves. The loudest human voice you will listen to is your own. Choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-caine/our-faith-is-really-proven-in-the-way-we-talk-to-ourselves-the/) [Christine Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-caine/) > [The oldest, truest, most beautiful organ of music, the origin to which alone our music owes its being, is the human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-oldest-truest-most-beautiful-organ-of-music-the-origin-to-which/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [I think people react so strongly to hearing the human voice, you can't give them too much of it or else they want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-thile/i-think-people-react-so-strongly-to-hearing-the-human-voice-you-can-t/) [Chris Thile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-thile/) > [There is a note that comes into the human voice by which you may know real weariness. It comes when one has been trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/there-is-a-note-that-comes-into-the-human-voice-by-which-you-may-know/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) > [“It was toffee; they were advertising toffee, a nursemaid told Rezia. Together they spell t...o...f... "K...R..." said the nursemaid, and Septimus heard her say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-was-toffee-they-were-advertising-toffee-a-nursemaid-told-rezia/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Opera takes the human voice to the absolute limits of what it is capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-fuchs/opera-takes-the-human-voice-to-the-absolute-limits-of-what-it-is/) [Jackie Fuchs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-fuchs/) > [Adlai Stevenson, himself a notable speaker, often reminisced about his last meeting with Churchill. I asked him on whom or what he had based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bourke-cockran/adlai-stevenson-himself-a-notable-speaker-often-reminisced-about-his/) [William Bourke Cockran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bourke-cockran/) > [I do love voices so much that I will use them and manipulate them. The presence of a human voice in a piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arca/i-do-love-voices-so-much-that-i-will-use-them-and-manipulate-them-the/) [Arca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arca/) > [If you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it's like the human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-getz/if-you-like-an-instrument-that-sings-play-the-saxophone-at-its-best/) [Stan Getz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-getz/) > [Ella knows her way around her voice as very few people today. But there are times when she seems to be unaware there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-fitzgerald/ella-knows-her-way-around-her-voice-as-very-few-people-today-but/) [Ella Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-fitzgerald/) > [There goes your freedom of choice, there goes the last human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-petty/there-goes-your-freedom-of-choice-there-goes-the-last-human-voice/) [Tom Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-petty/) > [I'm glad I get singled out for my slide guitar-playing, which isn't that difficult to do. I didn't take guitar lessons, but I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/i-m-glad-i-get-singled-out-for-my-slide-guitar-playing-which-isn-t/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [“I am drawn mostly, insistently to the human voice. How powerful and necessary the solo voice, the experience of being someone, something else for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ander-monson/i-am-drawn-mostly-insistently-to-the-human-voice-how-powerful-and/) Ander Monson > [“The written word has its limits and its challenges, for the primal sound in the whole world is that made by the human voice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-d-spence/the-written-word-has-its-limits-and-its-challenges-for-the-primal/) Jonathan D. Spence > [The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but the most difficult to play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-strauss/the-human-voice-is-the-most-beautiful-instrument-of-all-but-the-most/) [Richard Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-strauss/) [Browse all 107 Human voice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-voice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A poem is like a score for the human voice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Li-Young Lee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voice/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human voice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voice/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d95/li-young-lee-17263_human-voice_a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voi_169232.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A poem is like a score for the human voice.” — Li-Young Lee", "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": "Li-Young Lee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A poem is like a score...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voice/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voice/#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 } } ] } ```