---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The demand that poetry be immediately…"
description: "\"The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.\" — Mieczyslaw Jastrun"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg"
---

#  The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to…

![“The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.” quote by Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg)

> “The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.”

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Poetry's value lies beyond instant clarity; its depth resists simple explanation.

**In simple terms:** Poetry need not be instantly clear.

Key Takeaway

Appreciate poetic ambiguity.

Themes

art language interpretation

Mood

contemplative critical

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- literary criticism
- teaching poetry
- creative writing

Key Concepts

aesthetic theory subjectivity

Questions to Reflect On

- Why demand instant understanding?
- What does ambiguity add to art?

A Different Perspective

Immediate clarity can limit poetic richness.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/)

## Related quotes

> [Exercising the right of occasional suppression and slight modification, it is truly absurd to see how plastic a limited number of observations become, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-galton/exercising-the-right-of-occasional-suppression-and-slight/)

[Francis Galton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-galton/)

> [It is absolutely absurd that someone who is deemed unsafe to get on an airplane is allowed to buy a gun in America. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-moulton/it-is-absolutely-absurd-that-someone-who-is-deemed-unsafe-to-get-on/)

[Seth Moulton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-moulton/)

> [“Can a truly absurd universe so convincingly mimic a meaningful one?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-davies/can-a-truly-absurd-universe-so-convincingly-mimic-a-meaningful-one/)

[Paul Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-davies/)

> [In 2005, I had the great honor of playing Shailene Woodley's mother in 'Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.' I was immediately impressed by her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-gay-harden/in-2005-i-had-the-great-honor-of-playing-shailene-woodley-s-mother-in/)

[Marcia Gay Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-gay-harden/)

> [If You Pass Out Immediately After Smoking, Your Not A Pothead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/if-you-pass-out-immediately-after-smoking-your-not-a-pothead/)

[Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/)

> [If you can walk into a set and feel the reality of it, then immediately you're not having to work to bring yourself into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-flynn/if-you-can-walk-into-a-set-and-feel-the-reality-of-it-then/)

[Jerome Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-flynn/)

> [When I was first introduced to CrossFit, I found it to be the hardest workout that I'd ever done. It wiped the floor with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-harper/when-i-was-first-introduced-to-crossfit-i-found-it-to-be-the-hardest/)

[Bob Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-harper/)

> [Nothing is more misleading to the youth of a nation than to state the outcome immediately after the beginning as if nothing could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-stresemann/nothing-is-more-misleading-to-the-youth-of-a-nation-than-to-state-the/)

[Gustav Stresemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-stresemann/)

> [I wasn't afraid of anything until I had a kid. Then I was terrified because immediately I could imagine a hundred ways in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/i-wasn-t-afraid-of-anything-until-i-had-a-kid-then-i-was-terrified/)

[John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/)

> [The Oslo Accords in 1993 determined that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are a single territorial entity which cannot be divided. Immediately,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-oslo-accords-in-1993-determined-that-the-gaza-strip-and-the-west/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [I think a lot of fans immediately go, 'ugggh' when they hear that someone is doing a prequel or a remake, they sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-elizabeth-winstead/i-think-a-lot-of-fans-immediately-go-ugggh-when-they-hear-that/)

[Mary Elizabeth Winstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-elizabeth-winstead/)

> [Forget like a child any injury done by somebody immediately. Never keep it in the heart. It kindles hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forget-like-a-child-any-injury-done-by-somebody-immediately-never/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [In seventh grade, with some vague sense that I wanted to be a writer, I crouched in the junior high school library stacks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/in-seventh-grade-with-some-vague-sense-that-i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-i/)

[Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/)

> [Almost immediately, I remember right when Tikrit even fell, a few days after Baghdad fell, there was talks of insurgency, there was talks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farnaz-fassihi/almost-immediately-i-remember-right-when-tikrit-even-fell-a-few-days/)

Farnaz Fassihi

> [Once I've designed something, I immediately move on to the next thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-wearstler/once-i-ve-designed-something-i-immediately-move-on-to-the-next-thing/)

[Kelly Wearstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-wearstler/)

## More by Mieczyslaw Jastrun

> [Environment grinds us, forces us to adjust, and--consciously or not--kills our most precious possession: that something which enables us to speak with ourselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/environment-grinds-us-forces-us-to-adjust-and-consciously-or-not/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [The history of the creative progress of individual artists shows that, along with their spiritual growth and the increasing complexity of their inner life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-history-of-the-creative-progress-of-individual-artists-shows-that/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [Tradition remains alive only when we struggle with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/tradition-remains-alive-only-when-we-struggle-with-it/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [Poetry, in the entire course of its development, has always been trying to capture meanings and problems which are still obscure and dormant. Poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/poetry-in-the-entire-course-of-its-development-has-always-been-trying/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [Talent--that is to say, the ability to see the world in a unique way--matures and grows in isolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/talent-that-is-to-say-the-ability-to-see-the-world-in-a-unique-way/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [The solitude of the poet is the uniqueness of his experience, and the particulaity of his sensitivity and imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-solitude-of-the-poet-is-the-uniqueness-of-his-experience-and-the/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [In the end, time is the best ally of poets. It clarifies their works and makes them accessible to an ever widening circle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/in-the-end-time-is-the-best-ally-of-poets-it-clarifies-their-works/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [Solitude is an essential element of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/solitude-is-an-essential-element-of-poetry/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [The age of sages is past; the age of specialists has come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-age-of-sages-is-past-the-age-of-specialists-has-come/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [It is a grave error for historians of literature to interpret the national spirit of the age in an oversimplified manner, ignoring the complexity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/it-is-a-grave-error-for-historians-of-literature-to-interpret-the/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [From laboratories employing complex apparatus, poetry often emerges into the outside world after a long lapse of time, just as some scientific discoveries become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/from-laboratories-employing-complex-apparatus-poetry-often-emerges/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [The public, regardless of its social origin, likes, above all, that which is easily accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-public-regardless-of-its-social-origin-likes-above-all-that-which/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [The spirit of the age is not synonymous with what the public likes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-spirit-of-the-age-is-not-synonymous-with-what-the-public-likes/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

> [Art cannot progress by sticking to what is already familiar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/art-cannot-progress-by-sticking-to-what-is-already-familiar/)

[Mieczyslaw Jastrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

[Explore all 15 Mieczyslaw Jastrun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/)

## 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. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/)

[George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/)

> [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; &amp; the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/)

[Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/)

> [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/)

[George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/)

> [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/)

[Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/)

> [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/)

[Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/)

> [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. 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 demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mieczyslaw Jastrun"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-understandable-to-everyone-is/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Absurd"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-understandable-to-everyone-is/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/mieczyslaw-jastrun-33138_absurd_the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-un_1987545.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.” — Mieczyslaw Jastrun",
                "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": "Mieczyslaw Jastrun",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mieczyslaw-jastrun/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The demand that poetry be immediately...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-understandable-to-everyone-is/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mieczyslaw-jastrun/the-demand-that-poetry-be-immediately-understandable-to-everyone-is/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
