--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A poet's work consists less in seeking…" description: "\"A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas than in seeking ideas for his words and predominant rhythms.\" — Paul Valery" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg" --- # A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas… ![“A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas than in seeking ideas for his words and predominant rhythms.” quote by Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg) > “A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas than in seeking ideas for his words and predominant rhythms.” [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry prioritizes discovering ideas that inspire words and rhythm, rather than merely finding words for pre‑existing ideas. **In simple terms:** Poets seek ideas that fit words and rhythm. Key Takeaway Let concepts guide your expression. Themes creativity language rhythm Mood thoughtful creative Type literary educational When to use this quote - writing - teaching - artistic process Key Concepts aesthetics literature inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance idea and expression? - When does rhythm dictate meaning? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on ideas may stifle spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Rhythm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhythm/) ## Related quotes > [The time will come, without my seeking it, that my words will almost serve as law. If I ask a certain thing, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/the-time-will-come-without-my-seeking-it-that-my-words-will-almost/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) > [I say sometimes that I'm a poet but I work in the novel form. That's what I do. That's what makes sense to me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-a-martin/i-say-sometimes-that-i-m-a-poet-but-i-work-in-the-novel-form-that-s/) [Douglas A. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-a-martin/) > [“A poet's work . . . to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-poet-s-work-to-name-the-unnamable-to-point-at-frauds-to-take-sides/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I do think that given my background as a poet, and also I work in a different field, you're sort of neither here nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-chang/i-do-think-that-given-my-background-as-a-poet-and-also-i-work-in-a/) [Victoria Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-chang/) > [A poet's work is to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-poet-s-work-is-to-name-the-unnamable-to-point-at-frauds-to-take/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not what makes the poem. A man does not go in search of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-wanli/the-poet-must-work-with-brush-and-paper-but-this-is-not-what-makes/) Yang Wanli > [It is part of the poet's work to show each man what he sees but does not know he sees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/it-is-part-of-the-poet-s-work-to-show-each-man-what-he-sees-but-does/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [A writer is not different from a reader, in that the common ragbag of orthodoxies and assumptions is what a poet has to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/a-writer-is-not-different-from-a-reader-in-that-the-common-ragbag-of/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“Poet's Work" Grandfather advised me: Learn a trade I learned to sit at desk and condense No layoffs from this condensery”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorine-niedecker/poet-s-work-grandfather-advised-me-learn-a-trade-i-learned-to-sit-at/) [Lorine Niedecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorine-niedecker/) > [If a poet would work politically, he must give himself up to a party; and so soon as he does that, he is lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/if-a-poet-would-work-politically-he-must-give-himself-up-to-a-party/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“He never described himself as a poet or his work as poetry. The fact that the lines do not come to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/he-never-described-himself-as-a-poet-or-his-work-as-poetry-the-fact/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [We are taught words, not ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/we-are-taught-words-not-ideas/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [“I write to be a part of something - a world made up of words and ideas, which are sometimes painfully criticized, gratefully loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-write-to-be-a-part-of-something-a-world-made-up-of-words-and-ideas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't burden art with words and ideas. Art comes from a deeper place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-darby-bannard/don-t-burden-art-with-words-and-ideas-art-comes-from-a-deeper-place/) [Walter Darby Bannard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-darby-bannard/) > [In poetry, you must love the words, the ideas and the images and rhythms with all your capacity to love anything at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/in-poetry-you-must-love-the-words-the-ideas-and-the-images-and/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More by Paul Valery > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“O Socrates, the universe cannot for one instant endure to be only what it is. It is strange to think that that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/o-socrates-the-universe-cannot-for-one-instant-endure-to-be-only-what/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/serious-people-have-few-ideas-people-with-ideas-are-never-serious/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“I am now going to make an admission. I confess, I agree, that all these good people who protested, who laughed, who did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/i-am-now-going-to-make-an-admission-i-confess-i-agree-that-all-these/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“Degas is one of the very few painters who have given the floor its true importance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/degas-is-one-of-the-very-few-painters-who-have-given-the-floor-its/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/politics-is-the-art-of-preventing-people-from-busying-themselves-with/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/god-created-man-and-finding-him-not-sufficiently-alone-gave-him-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The most ridiculous were those who, on their own authority, made themselves the judges and justices of the tribe. They seemed never to suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-most-ridiculous-were-those-who-on-their-own-authority-made/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The folly of mistaking oneself for an oracle is built right into us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-folly-of-mistaking-oneself-for-an-oracle-is-built-right-into-us/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Thought must be hidden in the verse like nutritional virtue in a fruit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/thought-must-be-hidden-in-the-verse-like-nutritional-virtue-in-a-fruit/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [To be sincere means to be the same person when one is with oneself; that is to say, alone - but that is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/to-be-sincere-means-to-be-the-same-person-when-one-is-with-oneself/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [No work of art is ever completed, it is only abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/no-work-of-art-is-ever-completed-it-is-only-abandoned/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Interruption, incoherence, surprise are the ordinary conditions of our life. They have even become real needs for many people, whose minds are no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/interruption-incoherence-surprise-are-the-ordinary-conditions-of-our/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) [Explore all 215 Paul Valery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## 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. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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 > [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. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas than in seeking ideas for his words and predominant rhythms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Valery" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-words-for-his-ideas-than-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-words-for-his-ideas-than-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/paul-valery-1464_art_a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-w_1103392.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A poet's work consists less in seeking words for his ideas than in seeking ideas for his words and…” — Paul Valery", "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": "Paul Valery", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A poet's work consists less in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-words-for-his-ideas-than-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/a-poet-s-work-consists-less-in-seeking-words-for-his-ideas-than-in/#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 } } ] } ```