--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of course, when a poem is being born, the…" description: "\"Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part of the brain throbs away at full throttle, but all the other areas are overlapping and interac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg" --- # Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part… ![“Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part of the brain throbs away at full throttle, but all the other areas are overlapping and interacting as well, the emotional, intuitive, animal areas.” quote by Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg) > “Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part of the brain throbs away at full throttle, but all the other areas are overlapping and interacting as well, the emotional, intuitive, animal areas.” [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating poetry engages intense logical activity while also integrating emotion, intuition, and primal instincts. **In simple terms:** Poetry mixes thought, feeling, and instinct. Key Takeaway Balance analysis with feeling when writing. Themes creativity mind emotion intuition Mood reflective inspired Type artistic educational When to use this quote - writing poetry - brainstorming ideas - creative workshops - literary analysis Key Concepts cognitive neuroscience artistic process Questions to Reflect On - How do you let intuition guide your verses? - When does analysis hinder creativity? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on analysis can stifle spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional/) [Intuitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuitive/) [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Reasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning/) ## Related quotes > [“A versifier’s poem is born by the sound; a poet’s sound is born by the poem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/a-versifier-s-poem-is-born-by-the-sound-a-poet-s-sound-is-born-by-the/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [The poet marries the language, and out of this marriage the poem is born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-poet-marries-the-language-and-out-of-this-marriage-the-poem-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Fourier's theorem has all the simplicity and yet more power than other familiar explanations in science. Stated simply, any complex pattern, whether in time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-hood/fourier-s-theorem-has-all-the-simplicity-and-yet-more-power-than/) [Bruce Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-hood/) > [“We are made up of an entire parliament of pieces and parts and subsystems. Beyond a collection of local expert systems, we are collections…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/we-are-made-up-of-an-entire-parliament-of-pieces-and-parts-and/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [The photograph keeps open the instants which the onrush of time closes up forthwith; it destroys the overtaking, the overlapping, the metamorphosis of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/the-photograph-keeps-open-the-instants-which-the-onrush-of-time/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [Overlapping shapes are a safer indication of depth than is linear perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-brandt/overlapping-shapes-are-a-safer-indication-of-depth-than-is-linear/) [Rex Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-brandt/) > [The practice of soulful travel is to discover the overlapping point between history and everyday life, the way to find the essence of every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-cousineau/the-practice-of-soulful-travel-is-to-discover-the-overlapping-point/) [Phil Cousineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-cousineau/) > [There is a theory behind the culture of victimhood: It's called "intersectionality." This theory posits that racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc. are interconnected, overlapping,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/there-is-a-theory-behind-the-culture-of-victimhood-it-s-called/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [Truth is a totality, the sum of many overlapping partial images. History, on the other hand, sacrifices totality in the interest of continuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-leach/truth-is-a-totality-the-sum-of-many-overlapping-partial-images/) [Edmund Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-leach/) > [Universe is the aggregate of all humanity's consciously apprehended and communicated nonsimultaneous and only partially overlapping experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/universe-is-the-aggregate-of-all-humanity-s-consciously-apprehended/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [It's clear that science and science fiction have overlapping populations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederik-pohl/it-s-clear-that-science-and-science-fiction-have-overlapping/) [Frederik Pohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederik-pohl/) > [The absolute things, the last things, the overlapping things, are the truly philosophic concerns; all superior minds feel seriously about them, and the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-absolute-things-the-last-things-the-overlapping-things-are-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The basic ingredients of psychotherapy are religion, rhetoric, and repression, which are themselves mutually overlapping categories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-basic-ingredients-of-psychotherapy-are-religion-rhetoric-and/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [Though Lexington is not a small town, it sometimes feels like one, with circles of acquaintance overlapping once, then again; the person you meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-edwards/though-lexington-is-not-a-small-town-it-sometimes-feels-like-one-with/) [Kim Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-edwards/) > [The human being holds a universe within, filled with overlapping frequencies, and the result is a symphony of cosmic proportions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaru-emoto/the-human-being-holds-a-universe-within-filled-with-overlapping/) [Masaru Emoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaru-emoto/) ## More by Michael Longley > [The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good poetry and good prose the gap is much narrower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/the-gap-between-verse-and-poetry-is-enormous-between-good-poetry-and/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I would insist that poetry is a normal human activity and its proper concern all the things that happen to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-would-insist-that-poetry-is-a-normal-human-activity-and-its-proper/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [Most poets' revisions are disastrous. They buckle and dent what was originally forged at a red-hot heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/most-poets-revisions-are-disastrous-they-buckle-and-dent-what-was/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [In America, where you'd have thought the country's so huge it couldn't happen quite so cosily, everyone's giving his imprimatur to everyone else. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/in-america-where-you-d-have-thought-the-country-s-so-huge-it-couldn-t/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [Every Monday morning I try to remember to say "Thank you, Lord. I'm not at the Senior Staff Meeting."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/every-monday-morning-i-try-to-remember-to-say-thank-you-lord-i-m-not/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I work hard to make the poems as good as they can be, and if they're not good enough I scrap them. I find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-work-hard-to-make-the-poems-as-good-as-they-can-be-and-if-they-re/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [The job has left me with a healthy disregard for what you might call Public Life. I have no desire now to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/the-job-has-left-me-with-a-healthy-disregard-for-what-you-might-call/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I hardly ever look at my published books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-hardly-ever-look-at-my-published-books/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I suppose that as you grow older some sense of an accumulating oeuvre is unavoidable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-suppose-that-as-you-grow-older-some-sense-of-an-accumulating-oeuvre/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [For me the form, the stanzaic shape, is an endorsement, proof that I'm engaged with the Latin or Greek at an original level, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/for-me-the-form-the-stanzaic-shape-is-an-endorsement-proof-that-i-m/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [Weddings and funerals have so much in common (except that in Ireland funerals are more fun - better food, better drink): at both, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/weddings-and-funerals-have-so-much-in-common-except-that-in-ireland/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I'm not the kind of poet who arranges treasure-hunts to please the academics and keep them busy. Poetry should be surprising in deeper ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-m-not-the-kind-of-poet-who-arranges-treasure-hunts-to-please-the/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I don't know where the shape of a poem comes from. I certainly don't impose it. I write out of a jumble of emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-don-t-know-where-the-shape-of-a-poem-comes-from-i-certainly-don-t/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [A good poem is not completely a poem until it has received a critical response that grows out of the poem in an almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/a-good-poem-is-not-completely-a-poem-until-it-has-received-a-critical/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I was the first Arts Council official in the archipelago to do something for what you might call indigenous music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-was-the-first-arts-council-official-in-the-archipelago-to-do/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) [Explore all 21 Michael Longley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. 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Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part of the brain throbs away at full throttle, but all the other areas are overlapping and interacting as well, the emotional, intuitive, animal areas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Longley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the-reasoning-part-of-the-brain/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the-reasoning-part-of-the-brain/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/michael-longley-26639_animal_of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the_1499211.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part of the brain throbs away at full throttle, but all…” — Michael Longley", "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": "Michael Longley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Of course, when a poem is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the-reasoning-part-of-the-brain/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the-reasoning-part-of-the-brain/#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 } } ] } ```