--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the end, without skill or talent, I've…" description: "\"“In the end, without skill or talent, I've given myself over entirely to poetry. Po Chu-i labored at it until he nearly burst. Tu Fu starved rather tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/matsuo-basho-7207_poetry_in-the-end-without-skill-or-talent-i-ve_203039.jpg" --- # In the end, without skill or talent, I've given myself… ![“In the end, without skill or talent, I've given myself over entirely to poetry. Po Chu-i labored at it until he nearly burst. Tu Fu starved rather than abandon it. Neither my intelligence nor my writing is comparable to such men. Nevertheless, in the end, we ALL live in phantom huts.” quote by Matsuo Bashô](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/matsuo-basho-7207_poetry_in-the-end-without-skill-or-talent-i-ve_203039.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/matsuo-basho-7207_poetry_in-the-end-without-skill-or-talent-i-ve_203039.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/matsuo-basho-7207_poetry_in-the-end-without-skill-or-talent-i-ve_203039.jpg) > ““In the end, without skill or talent, I've given myself over entirely to poetry. Po Chu-i labored at it until he nearly burst. Tu Fu starved rather than abandon it. Neither my intelligence nor my writing is comparable to such men. Nevertheless, in the end, we ALL live in phantom huts.”” [Matsuo Bashô](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet feels inferior to historic masters, yet acknowledges that all humans share a fragile, temporary existence. **In simple terms:** Even great poets feel small; life is fleeting. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and the shared human condition. Themes humility artistic struggle mortality Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - personal reflection - literary criticism Key Concepts comparative literature existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does “phantom huts” symbolize for you? - Can art thrive without hardship? A Different Perspective It may romanticize suffering as a prerequisite for art. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I love to read poetry but I haven't written anything that I'm willing to show anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-love-to-read-poetry-but-i-haven-t-written-anything-that-i-m-willing/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [I think that to transfuse emotion - not to transmit thought but to set up in the reader's sense a vibration corresponding to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-think-that-to-transfuse-emotion-not-to-transmit-thought-but-to-set/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Anyone may be an honorable man, and yet write verse badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/anyone-may-be-an-honorable-man-and-yet-write-verse-badly/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-ve-always-written-when-i-was-in-school-the-only-teacher-who-ever/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-diament/one-of-my-favorite-poets-neruda-writes-close-to-the-bone-though-i/) [Anita Diament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-diament/) > [“What I would say is this: writing poems doesn't make you a poet. … It is only with poetry, for some reason, that everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-wright/what-i-would-say-is-this-writing-poems-doesn-t-make-you-a-poet-it-is/) [Franz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-wright/) > [“In our time, they say there is no penalty for writing poems. They say this. 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Seek what they sought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/do-not-seek-to-follow-in-the-footsteps-of-the-wise-seek-what-they/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Learn the rules, and then forget them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/learn-the-rules-and-then-forget-them/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Go to the object. Leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself. Do not impose yourself on the object. Become one with the object. Plunge deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/go-to-the-object-leave-your-subjective-preoccupation-with-yourself-do/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [A weathered skeleton in windy fields of memory, piercing like a knife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/a-weathered-skeleton-in-windy-fields-of-memory-piercing-like-a-knife/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [the universe and its beings are a complementarity of empty infinity, intimate interrelationships, and total uniqueness of each and every being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/the-universe-and-its-beings-are-a-complementarity-of-empty-infinity/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [The old pond, ah! A frog jumps in: The water's sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/the-old-pond-ah-a-frog-jumps-in-the-water-s-sound/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Without bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/without-bitterest-cold-that-penetrates-to-the-very-bone-how-can-plum/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Learn about a pine tree from a pine tree, and about a bamboo plant from a bamboo plant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/learn-about-a-pine-tree-from-a-pine-tree-and-about-a-bamboo-plant/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) [Explore all 93 Matsuo Bashô quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) ## More Poetry quotes > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [The name Phenomenal Woman was inspired by Maya Angelo, who wrote 'Phenomenal Woman', a favorite poem of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meena-harris/the-name-phenomenal-woman-was-inspired-by-maya-angelo-who-wrote/) [Meena Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meena-harris/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. 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