--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is music written for the human…" description: "\"Poetry is music written for the human voice.\" — Maya Angelou" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png" --- # Poetry is music written for the human voice. ![“Poetry is music written for the human voice.” quote by Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png) > “Poetry is music written for the human voice.” [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry and music share rhythm, melody, and emotional expression, uniting words and sound for the human voice. **In simple terms:** Poetry and music both convey feeling through rhythm. Key Takeaway Blend rhythm and language. Themes art expression music poetry Mood inspired reflective Type artistic descriptive When to use this quote - songwriting - performance - education - therapy - public speaking Key Concepts rhythm melody emotional resonance Questions to Reflect On - How does rhythm enhance meaning? - Can poetry be heard without words? A Different Perspective Music can be limited by language barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-voice/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Poetry is music for the human voice. Until you actually speak it or someone speaks it, it has not come into its own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/poetry-is-music-for-the-human-voice-until-you-actually-speak-it-or/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I didn't want to be written about as a human-interest story. I didn't want to be a passing thing. You know, now we move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-mullins/i-didn-t-want-to-be-written-about-as-a-human-interest-story-i-didn-t/) [Aimee Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-mullins/) > [The music that really moves me is music that's written by people where there isn't a lot of money and they're really singing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-yelchin/the-music-that-really-moves-me-is-music-that-s-written-by-people/) [Anton Yelchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-yelchin/) > [For me, poetry is the music of being human. And also a time machine by which we can travel to who we are and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-ann-duffy/for-me-poetry-is-the-music-of-being-human-and-also-a-time-machine-by/) [Carol Ann Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-ann-duffy/) > [One of the most important differences I see between prose and poetry is the music of the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/one-of-the-most-important-differences-i-see-between-prose-and-poetry/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [I love poetry, be it in music or be it in Andrei Tarkovsky, Francesca Woodman or anyone else, I just love poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graciela-iturbide/i-love-poetry-be-it-in-music-or-be-it-in-andrei-tarkovsky-francesca/) [Graciela Iturbide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graciela-iturbide/) > [My quotes are written on paper that do not like no one could throw in trash cans at the time, But at the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/my-quotes-are-written-on-paper-that-do-not-like-no-one-could-throw-in/) Mak\_786 > [“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-catholic-church/the-desire-for-god-is-written-in-the-human-heart-because-man-is/) [The Catholic Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-catholic-church/) > [Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/photography-records-the-gamut-of-feelings-written-on-the-human-face/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [ “What are we watching?" \[...\] \[...\] He hugged her closer. "The sacrifices I make for you -just watch." She was intrigued enough to pay… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/what-are-we-watching-he-hugged-her-closer-the-sacrifices-i-make-for/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [To compose is to remember music that has never been written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-schumann/to-compose-is-to-remember-music-that-has-never-been-written/) [Robert Schumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-schumann/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) Hanns Eisler > [Poetry and music are the best at the highest level of the human mind. Out of poetry, out of their need for poetry, human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/poetry-and-music-are-the-best-at-the-highest-level-of-the-human-mind/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/it-takes-the-human-voice-to-infuse-them-with-the-shades-of-deeper/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/words-mean-more-than-what-is-set-down-on-paper-it-takes-the-human/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More by Maya Angelou > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-want-me-to-do-something-tell-me-i-can-t-do-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-going-to-give-you-just-what-you-put-in-it-put-your-whole/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-may-write-me-down-in-history-with-your-bitter-twisted-lies-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-more-you-know-of-your-history-the-more-liberated-you-are/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-offers-us-tickets-to-places-which-we-have-not-knowingly-asked-for/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-m-working-at-trying-to-be-a-christian-and-that-s-serious-business/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Sunday, if I'm lucky, I'll go to church or listen to some good spiritual advice on the television or on the radio. I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/sunday-if-i-m-lucky-i-ll-go-to-church-or-listen-to-some-good/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Explore all 1,313 Maya Angelou quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## 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/) > [A poem is like a score for the human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/a-poem-is-like-a-score-for-the-human-voice/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [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 [Browse all 107 Human voice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-voice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry is music written for the human voice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maya Angelou" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-voice/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human voice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-voice/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/maya-angelou-104_human-voice_poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-vo_2338779.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry is music written for the human voice.” — Maya Angelou", "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": "Maya Angelou", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poetry is music written for the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/poetry-is-music-written-for-the-human-voice/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/poetry-is-music-written-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 } } ] } ```