--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now…" description: "\"“Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now, this matching And measuring, comparing, for instance, The coral-violet of the inner lip Of a queen conch to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png" --- # Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now, this matching… ![“Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now, this matching And measuring, comparing, for instance, The coral-violet of the inner lip Of a queen conch to the last rim of dusk On the purple-flowering raspberry To the pure indigo of the bird-voiced Tree frog’s twittering tongue, then converting The…” quote by Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png) > ““Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now, this matching And measuring, comparing, for instance, The coral-violet of the inner lip Of a queen conch to the last rim of dusk On the purple-flowering raspberry To the pure indigo of the bird-voiced Tree frog’s twittering tongue, then converting The result to an accepted standard Of rose-scarlet gradations. It’s difficult to say which is greater- The brevity of the elk’s frosty bellow Or the moments of fog sun-lifted Through fragrances of blue spruce Or the fading flavor in one spoonful Of warm chocolate rum. I mark out space by ten peas Strung on a string. The pane perimeter Of my window, for instance, is twenty-eight Lengths, twelve lengths over. Seventy pea-strings stretch from bed To door, Four go round my neck. My longing for you is more painful Than the six-times folding, doubling And doubling, of a coyote’s Most piercing cry, more inconsolable Than a whole night of moonlight blinded By thunderclouds, more constant Than black at the center of a cavern Stone below leagues of granite. I gauge my cold by the depth Of stillness in the pod heart of a frozen Wren. I time my breath by the faltering Leaves of aspen in wind. I count the circles Of my dizziness by the spreading rings Of rain-lassos on the pond, by the repeating Bell chimes of the corridor clock, By the one unending ring of the horizon. Where is the tablet, where the rule, where The steel weights, the balance, the book, Properly to make measure of a loss So grand and deep I can spread and stitch it To every visible star I name- Arcturus, Spica, Vega, Regulus- in this dark Surrounding dark surrounding dark?”” [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker obsessively quantifies love and experience, comparing natural details to absurd standards, revealing the futility of measuring emotion with precise metrics. **In simple terms:** Obsessive measurement of love feels futile. Key Takeaway Accept that some feelings resist precise measurement. Themes love measurement nature language emotion Mood melancholic contemplative artistic Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - writing poetry - reflecting on relationships - expressing grief - contemplating nature - discussing artistic process Key Concepts subjectivity metaphor absurdity comparative imagery Questions to Reflect On - How does trying to measure love change its perception? - Can emotions be truly compared? A Different Perspective Quantifying love may diminish its mystery and depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ## Related quotes > [The form is always the measure of the obsession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-giacometti/the-form-is-always-the-measure-of-the-obsession/) [Alberto Giacometti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-giacometti/) > [If you can't measure it, you can't change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/if-you-can-t-measure-it-you-can-t-change-it/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [I measure my life out in books." "You should be measuring your life by living. Correction: you shouldn't be measuring your life. What's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-measure-my-life-out-in-books-you-should-be-measuring-your-life-by/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-hansberry/child-when-do-you-think-is-the-time-to-love-somebody-the-most-when/) [Lorraine Hansberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-hansberry/) > [Measurement is fabulous. Unless you're busy measuring what's easy to measure as opposed to what's important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/measurement-is-fabulous-unless-you-re-busy-measuring-what-s-easy-to/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I think we can't go 'round measuring our goodness by what we don't do, what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-think-we-can-t-go-round-measuring-our-goodness-by-what-we-don-t-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Spending is not caring. Spending is what politicians do instead of caring. Spending more does not guarantee success. Politicians like to measure spending because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-norquist/spending-is-not-caring-spending-is-what-politicians-do-instead-of/) [Grover Norquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-norquist/) > [If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [“You can’t improve what you are not managing, you can’t manage what you are not measuring, and you can’t measure what you are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/you-can-t-improve-what-you-are-not-managing-you-can-t-manage-what-you/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [It is much easier to make measurements than to know exactly what you are measuring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-n-sullivan/it-is-much-easier-to-make-measurements-than-to-know-exactly-what-you/) [J. W. N. Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-n-sullivan/) > [Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning - an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/morality-without-religion-is-only-a-kind-of-dead-reckoning-an/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Learning to decipher words had only added to the pleasures of holding spines and turning pages, measuring the journey to the end with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/learning-to-decipher-words-had-only-added-to-the-pleasures-of-holding/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [There's always the tendency to transform the Church into an ethical agency, and of measuring the Church by the yardstick of social and cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lehmann/there-s-always-the-tendency-to-transform-the-church-into-an-ethical/) [Karl Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lehmann/) > [By measuring the proportion of children living with the same parents from birth and whether their parents report a good quality relationship we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-duncan-smith/by-measuring-the-proportion-of-children-living-with-the-same-parents/) [Iain Duncan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-duncan-smith/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Pattiann Rogers > [“The Estate of Solemnity By right, it reigns in its places- in long beards Of spanish moss hanging from a live oak On a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/the-estate-of-solemnity-by-right-it-reigns-in-its-places-in-long/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [I have thought for many years that the audience any creative writer imagines has a great effect on what gets written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/i-have-thought-for-many-years-that-the-audience-any-creative-writer/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [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/) > [“The Congregating of Stars They often meet in mountain lakes, No matter how remote, no matter how deep Down and far they must stream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/the-congregating-of-stars-they-often-meet-in-mountain-lakes-no-matter/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [The greatest tragedy that can befall a poet is to be praised by being misunderstood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/the-greatest-tragedy-that-can-befall-a-poet-is-to-be-praised-by-being/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [Sometimes, as in an athletic event where everything clicks, inexplicable things do happen. Learning and practicing an art or a skill has always been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/sometimes-as-in-an-athletic-event-where-everything-clicks/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [I'm primarily a poet, so I'd have to say in my case I'd investigate the mystery in poetry in a different way than prose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/i-m-primarily-a-poet-so-i-d-have-to-say-in-my-case-i-d-investigate/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [I don't write or think too much about the word "salvation." I might; I probably should. We are such needy creatures, needing to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/i-don-t-write-or-think-too-much-about-the-word-salvation-i-might-i/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [I'd rather call prose poems something else, for clarity - something like "poetic prose," prose that contains a quality of poetry, but not poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/i-d-rather-call-prose-poems-something-else-for-clarity-something-like/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [For me, prose is never a poem. Because with prose there are so very few tools to create the music. And one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/for-me-prose-is-never-a-poem-because-with-prose-there-are-so-very-few/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [Poetry is very playful with language. I think all poetry, at its heart, is playful. It's doing unusual and playful things with the language,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/poetry-is-very-playful-with-language-i-think-all-poetry-at-its-heart/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [“The Highest Octaves of Light Sands, in wild winds of surging waves Over the desert dunes, sing with the tones Of tiny pebbles moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/the-highest-octaves-of-light-sands-in-wild-winds-of-surging-waves/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [Poetry uses language to create a music borne inside human experiences and emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/poetry-uses-language-to-create-a-music-borne-inside-human-experiences/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [I'm all in favor of poets telling about the process as much as they can. And many do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/i-m-all-in-favor-of-poets-telling-about-the-process-as-much-as-they/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [To my mind, most prose poems are more prose than poetry. They don't possess most of the qualities of a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/to-my-mind-most-prose-poems-are-more-prose-than-poetry-they-don-t/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) [Explore all 53 Pattiann Rogers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) ## More Longing quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/) Kevin O'Brien > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/) [Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) [Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now, this matching And measuring, comparing, for instance, The coral-violet of the inner lip Of a queen conch to the last rim of dusk On the purple-flowering raspberry To the pure indigo of the bird-voiced Tree frog’s twittering tongue, then converting The result to an accepted standard Of rose-scarlet gradations. It’s difficult to say which is greater- The brevity of the elk’s frosty bellow Or the moments of fog sun-lifted Through fragrances of blue spruce Or the fading flavor in one spoonful Of warm chocolate rum. I mark out space by ten peas Strung on a string. The pane perimeter Of my window, for instance, is twenty-eight Lengths, twelve lengths over. Seventy pea-strings stretch from bed To door, Four go round my neck. My longing for you is more painful Than the six-times folding, doubling And doubling, of a coyote’s Most piercing cry, more inconsolable Than a whole night of moonlight blinded By thunderclouds, more constant Than black at the center of a cavern Stone below leagues of granite. I gauge my cold by the depth Of stillness in the pod heart of a frozen Wren. I time my breath by the faltering Leaves of aspen in wind. I count the circles Of my dizziness by the spreading rings Of rain-lassos on the pond, by the repeating Bell chimes of the corridor clock, By the one unending ring of the horizon. Where is the tablet, where the rule, where The steel weights, the balance, the book, Properly to make measure of a loss So grand and deep I can spread and stitch it To every visible star I name- Arcturus, Spica, Vega, Regulus- in this dark Surrounding dark surrounding dark?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pattiann Rogers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now-this-matching-and-measuring/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Longing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now-this-matching-and-measuring/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/842/pattiann-rogers-12754_longing_calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now_2999167.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Calling to Measure It’s an obsession now, this matching And measuring, comparing, for instance, The…” — Pattiann Rogers", "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": "Pattiann Rogers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Calling to Measure It’s an obsession...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now-this-matching-and-measuring/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/calling-to-measure-it-s-an-obsession-now-this-matching-and-measuring/#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 } } ] } ```