--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste…" description: "\"Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of sol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/miguel-de-cervantes-715_chaste_poesy-is-a-beauteous-damsel-chaste-honou_2070771.jpg" --- # Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet… ![“Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she gives pleasure and instruction…” quote by Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/miguel-de-cervantes-715_chaste_poesy-is-a-beauteous-damsel-chaste-honou_2070771.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/miguel-de-cervantes-715_chaste_poesy-is-a-beauteous-damsel-chaste-honou_2070771.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/miguel-de-cervantes-715_chaste_poesy-is-a-beauteous-damsel-chaste-honou_2070771.jpg) > “Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she gives pleasure and instruction to all with whom she communicates.” [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry embodies modesty, wit, and solitude, offering pleasure and instruction through refined, proper expression **In simple terms:** Poetry is modest, witty, and instructive within propriety Key Takeaway Value modesty, wit, and solitude in creative expression Themes poetry modesty solitude wit instruction Mood contemplative thoughtful calm Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - teaching - public speaking - personal journaling Key Concepts literary art personal reflection educational content Questions to Reflect On - How does modesty enhance poetic impact? - In what ways can solitude foster creativity? A Different Perspective Risk of becoming overly detached from social engagement ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chaste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaste/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Propriety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propriety/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Witty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witty/) [Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woods/) ## Related quotes > [All persons are not discreet enough to know how to take things by the right handle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/all-persons-are-not-discreet-enough-to-know-how-to-take-things-by-the/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“Many are poets, but without the name; For what is Poesy but to create From overfeeling Good or Ill; and aim At an external…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gordon-byron/many-are-poets-but-without-the-name-for-what-is-poesy-but-to-create/) [George Gordon Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gordon-byron/) > [Ay, Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ay-much-is-the-force-of-heaven-bred-poesy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Nothing so difficult as a beginning In poesy, unless perhaps the end; For oftentimes when Pegasus seems winning The race, he sprains a wing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gordon-byron/nothing-so-difficult-as-a-beginning-in-poesy-unless-perhaps-the-end-2/) [George Gordon Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gordon-byron/) > [Music is inarticulate poesy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/music-is-inarticulate-poesy/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Nothing so difficult as a beginning In poesy, unless perhaps the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/nothing-so-difficult-as-a-beginning-in-poesy-unless-perhaps-the-end/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Never did Poesy appear So full of heaven to me, as when I saw how it would pierce through pride and fear To the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/never-did-poesy-appear-so-full-of-heaven-to-me-as-when-i-saw-how-it/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Many are poets, but without the name;For what is Poesy but to createFrom overfeeling Good or Ill; and aimAt an external life beyond our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/many-are-poets-but-without-the-name-for-what-is-poesy-but-to/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Poesy must not be drawn by the ears: it must be gently led, or rather, it must lead, which was partly the cause that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/poesy-must-not-be-drawn-by-the-ears-it-must-be-gently-led-or-rather/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Poesy and oratory omit things not essential, and insert little beautiful digressions, in order to place everything in the most effective light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/poesy-and-oratory-omit-things-not-essential-and-insert-little/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Life went a-maying With Nature, Hope, and Poesy, When I was young!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/life-went-a-maying-with-nature-hope-and-poesy-when-i-was-young/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [I’ll be real discreet,” Tank said. As discreet as a six-foot-six, no-neck guy weighing three hundred and fifty pounds, all dressed in black SWAT…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/i-ll-be-real-discreet-tank-said-as-discreet-as-a-six-foot-six-no-neck/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [A person who is discreet in speaking will be useful during the good times and will avoid punishment during the bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/a-person-who-is-discreet-in-speaking-will-be-useful-during-the-good/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/chaperons-even-in-their-days-of-glory-were-almost-never-able-to/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [I was a very sickly child. My parents were immigrants. They were not decorous. They were not discreet. They always thought I was gonna…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/i-was-a-very-sickly-child-my-parents-were-immigrants-they-were-not/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) ## More by Miguel de Cervantes > [Beware, gentle knight - the greatest monster of them all is reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/beware-gentle-knight-the-greatest-monster-of-them-all-is-reason/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [He had a face like a blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/he-had-a-face-like-a-blessing/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to submit to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-one-thing-to-praise-discipline-and-another-to-submit-to-it/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Those who'll play with cats must expect to be scratched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/those-who-ll-play-with-cats-must-expect-to-be-scratched/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“So it appears to me, for when he could and should have wielded his pen to praise the virtues of so good a knight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/so-it-appears-to-me-for-when-he-could-and-should-have-wielded-his-pen/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/too-much-sanity-may-be-madness-and-maddest-of-all-to-see-life-as-it/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Old, that's an affront no woman can well bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/old-that-s-an-affront-no-woman-can-well-bear/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [One should not talk of hatters in the house of the hanged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-should-not-talk-of-hatters-in-the-house-of-the-hanged/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [It is courage that vanquishes in war, and not good weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-courage-that-vanquishes-in-war-and-not-good-weapons/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [I follow a more easy, and, in my opinion, a wiser course, namely--to inveigh against the levity of the female sex, their fickleness, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/i-follow-a-more-easy-and-in-my-opinion-a-wiser-course-namely-to/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Every man is as heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/every-man-is-as-heaven-made-him-and-sometimes-a-great-deal-worse/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Great people create great acts of kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/great-people-create-great-acts-of-kindness/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [One day, in the San Francisco walk, he came upon some badly painted figures and observed that good painters imitate nature but bad ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-day-in-the-san-francisco-walk-he-came-upon-some-badly-painted/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/drink-moderately-for-drunkeness-neither-keeps-a-secret-nor-observes-a/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) [Explore all 386 Miguel de Cervantes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## More Chaste quotes > [It is not always from valor or from chastity that men are brave, and women chaste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-not-always-from-valor-or-from-chastity-that-men-are-brave-and/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [The one who has not conquered the passions cannot enter the chaste and pure region of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-aleksandrovich-antonov/the-one-who-has-not-conquered-the-passions-cannot-enter-the-chaste/) [Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-aleksandrovich-antonov/) > [Manye chapeleyns arn chaste, ac charite is aweye; Are none hardere than hii whan hii ben avaunced: Unkynde to hire kyn and to alle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-langland/manye-chapeleyns-arn-chaste-ac-charite-is-aweye-are-none-hardere-than/) [William Langland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-langland/) > [Staying chaste until marriage, a commandment of my faith, was one of the most difficult challenges of my young life. I had a powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feisal-abdul-rauf/staying-chaste-until-marriage-a-commandment-of-my-faith-was-one-of/) [Feisal Abdul Rauf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feisal-abdul-rauf/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“A virtuos woman is not moved by big names and flamboyance, but only men of profound wisdom and integrity move her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/a-virtuos-woman-is-not-moved-by-big-names-and-flamboyance-but-only/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“The girl's life had been squandered in the streets, and among the most noisome of the stews and dens of London, but there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-girl-s-life-had-been-squandered-in-the-streets-and-among-the-most/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Too chaste an adolescence makes for a dissolute old age. It is doubtless easier to give up something one has known than something one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/too-chaste-an-adolescence-makes-for-a-dissolute-old-age-it-is/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [The eye of a man should be still more reverent before the rising of a young maiden than before the rising of a star.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-eye-of-a-man-should-be-still-more-reverent-before-the-rising-of-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Mediocre people often have a tinge of religion about them, but it is only a tinge. They take their religion as it comes. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dubay/mediocre-people-often-have-a-tinge-of-religion-about-them-but-it-is/) [Thomas Dubay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dubay/) > [There's a disciplined erotic component to it, so that the height of sexual contact is the embrace, the modest touch, a relatively chaste kiss.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/there-s-a-disciplined-erotic-component-to-it-so-that-the-height-of/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [If she be not honest, chaste, and true, there's no man happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-she-be-not-honest-chaste-and-true-there-s-no-man-happy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, "Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/a-roman-divorced-from-his-wife-being-highly-blamed-by-his-friends-who/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Make me chaste and To what excesses will men not go for the sake of a religion in which they believe so little and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/make-me-chaste-and-to-what-excesses-will-men-not-go-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Art is never chaste. It ought to be forbidden to ignorant innocents, never allowed into contact with those not sufficiently prepared. Yes, art is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-is-never-chaste-it-ought-to-be-forbidden-to-ignorant-innocents/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 169 Chaste quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaste/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. 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