--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When somebody discusses my work with me…" description: "\"“When somebody discusses my work with me and peruses a poem or two, they get to see a piece of who I am. Because when it comes to poetry, I let it all ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/nicholas-trandahl-29310_art_when-somebody-discusses-my-work-with-me_3086674.jpg" --- # When somebody discusses my work with me and peruses a poem… ![“When somebody discusses my work with me and peruses a poem or two, they get to see a piece of who I am. Because when it comes to poetry, I let it all spill forth. Any other way of writing prose would be a disservice to the art of poetry.” quote by Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/nicholas-trandahl-29310_art_when-somebody-discusses-my-work-with-me_3086674.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/nicholas-trandahl-29310_art_when-somebody-discusses-my-work-with-me_3086674.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/nicholas-trandahl-29310_art_when-somebody-discusses-my-work-with-me_3086674.jpg) > ““When somebody discusses my work with me and peruses a poem or two, they get to see a piece of who I am. Because when it comes to poetry, I let it all spill forth. Any other way of writing prose would be a disservice to the art of poetry.”” [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry demands authentic, unfiltered self‑expression; prose can feel inauthentic if not poetic. **In simple terms:** Poetry is true self‑expression. Key Takeaway Embrace poetic honesty in all writing. Themes authenticity poetry self‑expression artistic integrity Mood introspective artistic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal journals - public readings Key Concepts creative vulnerability literary form identity Questions to Reflect On - How can prose capture poetic depth? - When does poetry become self‑indulgent? A Different Perspective Prose can also be sincere if crafted mindfully. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Comes Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-poetry-1400279/) [Peruses Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peruses-poem-5289554/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Let](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-let-602654/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-prose-400360/) ## Related quotes > [For me, poetry is an evasion of the real job of writing prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/for-me-poetry-is-an-evasion-of-the-real-job-of-writing-prose/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A lot of innovation in language comes from poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/a-lot-of-innovation-in-language-comes-from-poetry/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [If you go into a bar in most places in America and even say the word poetry, you'll probably get beaten up. But poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/if-you-go-into-a-bar-in-most-places-in-america-and-even-say-the-word/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [I started writing prose before I started writing television. Then 'Breaking Bad' came around, and to me, writing 'Breaking Bad' is like writing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mastras/i-started-writing-prose-before-i-started-writing-television-then/) [George Mastras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mastras/) > [Good authors, too, who once knew better words Now use only four-letter words Writing prose - Anything goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cole-porter/good-authors-too-who-once-knew-better-words-now-use-only-four-letter/) [Cole Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cole-porter/) > [I don't do much of anything consciously in writing - in poetry writing, anyway, prose usually being a different matter, of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-padgett/i-don-t-do-much-of-anything-consciously-in-writing-in-poetry-writing/) [Ron Padgett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-padgett/) > [Prose is like this big block - you write big paragraphs. I feel that when I'm reading and writing, that a prose book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-callahan/prose-is-like-this-big-block-you-write-big-paragraphs-i-feel-that/) [Bill Callahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-callahan/) > [Of all the art forms, poetry is the most economical. 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A writer must let go of the line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-duhamel/i-am-interested-in-the-confines-of-the-page-and-busting-through-off/) [Denise Duhamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-duhamel/) > [I love writing prose. I really love writing prose. It's very pleasurable for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-liu/i-love-writing-prose-i-really-love-writing-prose-it-s-very/) [Marjorie Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-liu/) > [If you wrote a crummy line or maybe didn't sing to the best of your ability, there's layers of 10 different instruments all working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-zauner/if-you-wrote-a-crummy-line-or-maybe-didn-t-sing-to-the-best-of-your/) [Michelle Zauner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-zauner/) > [I think the term poet is a very exalted term and should be applied to a man at the end of his work. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/i-think-the-term-poet-is-a-very-exalted-term-and-should-be-applied-to/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [If you like poetry let it be first rate, Milton, Shakespeare, Thomson, Goldsmith Pope (if you will though I don't admire him), Scott, Byron,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-you-like-poetry-let-it-be-first-rate-milton-shakespeare-thomson/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) ## More by Nicholas Trandahl > [“It’s my opinion that only in times of utter depression or lofty peace is it appropriate to be creative.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/it-s-my-opinion-that-only-in-times-of-utter-depression-or-lofty-peace/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“As long as I have other ideas and projects noted, I feel confident that they'll be alright until I get to them. And my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/as-long-as-i-have-other-ideas-and-projects-noted-i-feel-confident/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“I feel like these characters, these places, these beings and plots, and even these inanimate objects are counting on me for survival. It’s my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/i-feel-like-these-characters-these-places-these-beings-and-plots-and/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“Sometimes just being able to write only a few hundred words as opposed to a few thousand is just fine. As long as they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/sometimes-just-being-able-to-write-only-a-few-hundred-words-as/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“In my own book-signings, I find humility. It’s always humbling when people go out of their way to come visit with me and by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/in-my-own-book-signings-i-find-humility-it-s-always-humbling-when/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“I primarily use poetry as a purge, a self-medication device when I’m in the depths of loneliness, anxiety or in the throes of depression.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/i-primarily-use-poetry-as-a-purge-a-self-medication-device-when-i-m/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“I write fiction not for my readers and not for myself. I write fiction for the sake of those odd heroic characters that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/i-write-fiction-not-for-my-readers-and-not-for-myself-i-write-fiction/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“I have to be in a particular mindset to write poetry. I either have to be very depressed or very inspired.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/i-have-to-be-in-a-particular-mindset-to-write-poetry-i-either-have-to/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“Thoreau’s writings feel more alive to me than any thing that I’ve ever read. When I read anything by Thoreau, I see his subject.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/thoreau-s-writings-feel-more-alive-to-me-than-any-thing-that-i-ve/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“Whenever I read anything by Henry David Thoreau I honestly feel as though he’s with me. No. More like I am with him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/whenever-i-read-anything-by-henry-david-thoreau-i-honestly-feel-as/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe’s writings showed me perfectly that there can be such fragile beauty and purity located in darkness and sorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/edgar-allan-poe-s-writings-showed-me-perfectly-that-there-can-be-such/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“I’m a man of music as much as I am a man of words and prose. One could even possibly say that they, music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/i-m-a-man-of-music-as-much-as-i-am-a-man-of-words-and-prose-one-could/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“There are a couple of utterly important rules to writing anything, whether it's a novel, a short story or a collection of poetry. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/there-are-a-couple-of-utterly-important-rules-to-writing-anything/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“I just need to sit, think, write and read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/i-just-need-to-sit-think-write-and-read/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“Poetry is a niche genre, sure, but it has a way of opening people up. It opens me up. As with music and art,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/poetry-is-a-niche-genre-sure-but-it-has-a-way-of-opening-people-up-it/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) [Explore all 18 Nicholas Trandahl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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