--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the…" description: "\"Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the imagination.\" — Marianne Moore" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png" --- # Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the imagination. ![“Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the imagination.” quote by Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png) > “Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the imagination.” [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry uniquely harnesses imagination, achieving a level of skill unmatched by other forms. **In simple terms:** Poetry excels at imaginative expression. Key Takeaway Appreciate poetic imagination. Themes poetry imagination artistic mastery creativity Mood analytical appreciative Type literary emotional When to use this quote - creative writing - teaching literature - personal reflection - art therapy Key Concepts literary excellence expressive depth mental visualization Questions to Reflect On - What makes poetry distinct from prose? - How can you foster imagination through poetry? A Different Perspective Poetry may be inaccessible to some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Promptly peerless, hitherto peerless and hence peerless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-hart/promptly-peerless-hitherto-peerless-and-hence-peerless/) [Bret Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-hart/) > [“I am rich in something that every other girl lacks. I am peerless. I command as I choose; I discard as I will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctor-kesi/i-am-rich-in-something-that-every-other-girl-lacks-i-am-peerless-i/) [Doctor Kesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doctor-kesi/) > [The most peerless piece of earth, I think, that e' er the sun shone bright on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-most-peerless-piece-of-earth-i-think-that-e-er-the-sun-shone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Barbara Stanwyck, in particular, was peerless in everything from high and low comedy to drama to musicals to film noir. 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They create to express the love they have for their craft.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/true-artists-do-not-create-to-fish-for-compliments-and-praises-they/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The best chess-player in Christendom may be little more than the best player of chess; but proficiency in whist implies capacity for success in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-best-chess-player-in-christendom-may-be-little-more-than-the-best/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [When you serve your passions, proficiency gradually takes over and becomes habitual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/when-you-serve-your-passions-proficiency-gradually-takes-over-and/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Indeed, the whole point of the man bun, I have surmised, is to assert a high proficiency at yoga. 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Most of the proficiencies can be learned, but what's inside you is something that's difficult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-robredo/the-most-important-ingredient-of-leadership-is-character-most-of-the/) Jesse Robredo > [A proactive person needs no pressure to perform and an ineffective person offloads his pressure onto others to deform the positive work culture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/a-proactive-person-needs-no-pressure-to-perform-and-an-ineffective/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) ## More by Marianne Moore > [When one is frank, one's very presence is a compliment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/when-one-is-frank-one-s-very-presence-is-a-compliment/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/one-writes-because-one-has-a-burning-desire-to-objectify-what-it-is/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Victory won't come to me unless I go to it; a grape tendril ties a knot in knots till knotted thirty times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/victory-won-t-come-to-me-unless-i-go-to-it-a-grape-tendril-ties-a/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence; not in silence, but restraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/the-deepest-feeling-always-shows-itself-in-silence-not-in-silence-but/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [“Do the poet and scientist not work analogously? Both are willing to waste effort. To be hard on himself is one ...of the main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/do-the-poet-and-scientist-not-work-analogously-both-are-willing-to/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Camels are snobbish and sheep, unintelligent; water buffaloes, neurasthenic-- even murderous. Reindeer seem over-serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/camels-are-snobbish-and-sheep-unintelligent-water-buffaloes/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [When one cannot appraise out of one's own experience, the temptation to blunder is minimized, but even when one can, appraisal seems chiefly useful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/when-one-cannot-appraise-out-of-one-s-own-experience-the-temptation/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [The hands are the heart's messengers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/the-hands-are-the-heart-s-messengers/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [I believe verbal felicity is the fruit of ardor, of diligence, and of refusing to be false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/i-believe-verbal-felicity-is-the-fruit-of-ardor-of-diligence-and-of/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Conscious writing can be the death of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/conscious-writing-can-be-the-death-of-poetry/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Only imagination that towers can reproduce evanescence and render rigidity flexible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/only-imagination-that-towers-can-reproduce-evanescence-and-render/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Revision is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/revision-is-its-own-reward/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [In a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/in-a-poem-the-excitement-has-to-maintain-itself-i-am-governed-by-the/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [All are / naked, none is safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/all-are-naked-none-is-safe/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [It is human nature to stand in the middle of a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/it-is-human-nature-to-stand-in-the-middle-of-a-thing/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) [Explore all 134 Marianne Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the imagination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marianne Moore" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the-imagination/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the-imagination/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/marianne-moore-3315_imagination_poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the_2684862.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry is a peerless proficiency of the imagination.” — Marianne Moore", "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": "Marianne Moore", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poetry is a peerless proficiency of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the-imagination/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/poetry-is-a-peerless-proficiency-of-the-imagination/#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 } } ] } ```