--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to…" description: "\"One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or differently than the silence that preceded th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg" --- # One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a… ![“One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or differently than the silence that preceded the poem.” quote by Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg) > “One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or differently than the silence that preceded the poem.” [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry seeks to generate a lingering, resonant quiet that transforms the reader’s inner space, differing from prior silence. **In simple terms:** Poetry creates a lasting, altered silence. Key Takeaway Poetry reshapes inner quiet. Themes Artistic resonance Transformation Silence Perception Emotion Mood Contemplative Melancholic Inspired Type Literary observation Philosophical insight When to use this quote - Reading a poem alone - Teaching poetry in class - Reflecting after a performance - Writing personal verse - Analyzing literary criticism Key Concepts Poetic effect Aesthetic experience Cognitive shift Practical Applications - Therapeutic writing - Creative workshops Questions to Reflect On - How does silence after a poem differ from everyday quiet? - What elements of a poem trigger this reverberant silence? A Different Perspective null ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Differently Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differently-silence-376470/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Preceded Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preceded-poem-376472/) [Reverberant Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reverberant-silence-376468/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silence Preceded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-preceded-376469/) [Silence Wake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-wake-376471/) ## Related quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) ## More by Mark Doty > [... the attempt to render visual intricacy makes words feel unwieldy, like sacks of meaning that must be lugged into place, dragged here and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/the-attempt-to-render-visual-intricacy-makes-words-feel-unwieldy-like/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“And now, a heap of roses beside the sea, white rugosa beside the foaming hem of shore: brave, waxen candles… And we talk as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/and-now-a-heap-of-roses-beside-the-sea-white-rugosa-beside-the/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“Doesn’t rain make a memory more intimate?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/doesn-t-rain-make-a-memory-more-intimate/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“I used to walk out, at night, to the breakwater which divides the end of the harbor form the broad moor of the salt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/i-used-to-walk-out-at-night-to-the-breakwater-which-divides-the-end/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“And, I think, this greening does thaw at the edges, at least, of my own cold season. Joy sneaks in: listening to music, riding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/and-i-think-this-greening-does-thaw-at-the-edges-at-least-of-my-own/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [In Judith Barrington's striking collection, Horses and the Human Soul, human emotions come ushered and accompanied by animal companions, especially the horses this speaker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/in-judith-barrington-s-striking-collection-horses-and-the-human-soul/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Poetry is ... the physical enactment of a process of knowing by means of language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/poetry-is-the-physical-enactment-of-a-process-of-knowing-by-means-of/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [We love disasters that have nothing to do with us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/we-love-disasters-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-us/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“Does the poem reside in experience or in self-consciousness about experience?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/does-the-poem-reside-in-experience-or-in-self-consciousness-about/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > ['Everything beautiful occurs when the body / is suspended,' Helena Mesa quotes a performance artist who hangs his own pierced body in the air.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/everything-beautiful-occurs-when-the-body-is-suspended-helena-mesa/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Intimacy, says the phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard, is the highest value. I resist this statement at first. What about artistic achievement, or moral courage, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/intimacy-says-the-phenomenologist-gaston-bachelard-is-the-highest/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [It's unsettling, to lose the safety of the familiar, even when what's disrupted is an ordinary routine. When I began this poem, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/it-s-unsettling-to-lose-the-safety-of-the-familiar-even-when-what-s/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Desire can make anything into a god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/desire-can-make-anything-into-a-god/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“In the museums we used to visit on family vacations when I was a kid, I used to love those rooms which displayed collections…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/in-the-museums-we-used-to-visit-on-family-vacations-when-i-was-a-kid/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [I've been moving a little to the music while I worked ...and then I realize I am actually dancing. It feels wonderful, though I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/i-ve-been-moving-a-little-to-the-music-while-i-worked-and-then-i/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) [Explore all 59 Mark Doty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or differently than the silence that preceded the poem.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Doty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-create-a-reverberant-silence/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-create-a-reverberant-silence/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/mark-doty-11557_ambition_one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-c_14111.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or…” — Mark Doty", "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": "Mark Doty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One ambition of poetry, certainly, is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-create-a-reverberant-silence/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-create-a-reverberant-silence/#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 } } ] } ```