--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The speaker tentatively reaches out with…" description: "\"The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and realizes that it's kind of absurd, or at least a dangerous consolation, which is what I think..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0f/matthew-zapruder-12762_absurd_the-speaker-tentatively-reaches-out-with_483419.jpg" --- # The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and… ![“The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and realizes that it's kind of absurd, or at least a dangerous consolation, which is what I think is discovered as that longish sentence at the end of the poem comes to its conclusion. But here I am interpreting my own poem, which is kind of…” quote by Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0f/matthew-zapruder-12762_absurd_the-speaker-tentatively-reaches-out-with_483419.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0f/matthew-zapruder-12762_absurd_the-speaker-tentatively-reaches-out-with_483419.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0f/matthew-zapruder-12762_absurd_the-speaker-tentatively-reaches-out-with_483419.jpg) > “The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and realizes that it's kind of absurd, or at least a dangerous consolation, which is what I think is discovered as that longish sentence at the end of the poem comes to its conclusion. But here I am interpreting my own poem, which is kind of like making out with one's own high school yearbook photo.” [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Analyzing one’s own poem feels like confronting a youthful self, revealing absurdity and danger in self‑interpretation. **In simple terms:** Self‑analysis can be both revealing and unsettling. Key Takeaway Embrace honest self‑reflection. Themes self‑awareness creativity absurdity Mood introspective analytical Type literary psychological When to use this quote - writing workshops - therapy sessions - art critiques - personal journaling Key Concepts literary criticism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does your past self reveal about you now? - How do you balance nostalgia with progress? A Different Perspective Self‑interpretation may lead to over‑identification with past selves, hindering growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [High school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school/) [High school yearbook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school-yearbook/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Yearbook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearbook/) ## Related quotes > [As a poet who has the tools for interpreting the poem differently, you can begin to deconstruct it. 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You have to believe me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/for-the-first-time-in-my-life-i-understood-the-end-of-that-poem-and-i/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [I do not usually revise much, though I often cut, particularly the end or toward the end of a poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-schuyler/i-do-not-usually-revise-much-though-i-often-cut-particularly-the-end/) [James Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-schuyler/) > [“A poetic form is essentially a codified pattern of silence. We have a little silence at the end of a line, a bigger one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-paterson/a-poetic-form-is-essentially-a-codified-pattern-of-silence-we-have-a/) [Don Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-paterson/) ## More by Matthew Zapruder > [It is funny, and also a bit sad, that poets are so often asked to justify our vocation. There seems to be something vaguely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/it-is-funny-and-also-a-bit-sad-that-poets-are-so-often-asked-to/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [The question does arise if how and why to write poetry in this time. It feels both completely essential and also quite difficult. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/the-question-does-arise-if-how-and-why-to-write-poetry-in-this-time/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [That name, SUN BEAR, just sounds like an ideogram to me. Super resonant. By the way, this all might be related to Tomaž Šalamun's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/that-name-sun-bear-just-sounds-like-an-ideogram-to-me-super-resonant/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [Music and songs have always been a constant part of my life, and still are. 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I gained an immense amount of respect for people who write prose, and also felt even more sure that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/thinking-in-prose-is-different-i-gained-an-immense-amount-of-respect/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [Something can be symbolic without being a mere stand-in or vessel, which just brings us away from the true mystery and dread, into some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/something-can-be-symbolic-without-being-a-mere-stand-in-or-vessel/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [It may very well be that we have entered another time when most poets will feel compelled to use poetry to stop things from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/it-may-very-well-be-that-we-have-entered-another-time-when-most-poets/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [I've noticed that there can be a visceral reaction to strong statements about poetry, as if anyone who has an opinion and expresses it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/i-ve-noticed-that-there-can-be-a-visceral-reaction-to-strong/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [Somewhere back a whiskey or so ago I wrote that thinking was a real thing in the world, just like anything else. 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But that was not my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/i-wanted-to-write-not-exclusively-for-or-against-poets-or-scholars/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [Reading a poem is a real thing, a worthy thing. So to be there right with the reader at that moment is part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/reading-a-poem-is-a-real-thing-a-worthy-thing-so-to-be-there-right/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [Miroslav Holub seems to expect his readers to act like scientists, who are curious in every direction, take nothing for granted, and are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/miroslav-holub-seems-to-expect-his-readers-to-act-like-scientists-who/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) [Explore all 53 Matthew Zapruder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. 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But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and realizes that it's kind of absurd, or at least a dangerous consolation, which is what I think is discovered as that longish sentence at the end of the poem comes to its conclusion. 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