--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a…" description: "\"Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a year and gone back to it.\" — Philip Levine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg" --- # Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a year and gone… ![“Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a year and gone back to it.” quote by Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg) > “Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a year and gone back to it.” [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work can be abandoned and later revisited, showing the fluidity of artistic inspiration. **In simple terms:** Art can be paused and resumed. Key Takeaway Return to unfinished work. Themes creativity memory time Mood contemplative hopeful Type literary motivational When to use this quote - writing projects - academic research - personal journals Key Concepts psychology of art narrative theory Questions to Reflect On - Why do we abandon creative projects? - How does time change perspective? A Different Perspective May suggest neglect of discipline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [I write one poem a year, usually in January or February.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-susan-rapp/i-write-one-poem-a-year-usually-in-january-or-february/) [Emily Susan Rapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-susan-rapp/) > [“Hem, you know I don't think that owner's wife where you live likes me. She wouldn't let me wait upstairs for you.' 'I'll tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/hem-you-know-i-don-t-think-that-owner-s-wife-where-you-live-likes-me/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I went to Madrid to play football but I couldn't because I was never left in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-anelka/i-went-to-madrid-to-play-football-but-i-couldn-t-because-i-was-never/) [Nicolas Anelka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-anelka/) > [I couldn't have left Banfield in the ways I would have wanted, but the people here are always great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-zanetti/i-couldn-t-have-left-banfield-in-the-ways-i-would-have-wanted-but-the/) [Javier Zanetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-zanetti/) > [My social status in the last year has gone from zero to hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nell-zink/my-social-status-in-the-last-year-has-gone-from-zero-to-hero/) [Nell Zink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nell-zink/) > [Snoopy: So this is the last day of the year. Another complete year gone by and what have I accomplished this year that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/snoopy-so-this-is-the-last-day-of-the-year-another-complete-year-gone/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [What you have to do as a comedian, that I suppose is quite difficult, is you have to end it. All the stuff that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bishop/what-you-have-to-do-as-a-comedian-that-i-suppose-is-quite-difficult/) [John Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bishop/) > [The smartest thing I've done for my kids is writing a song about a holiday. Every year after that, even after I'm gone, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shooter-jennings/the-smartest-thing-i-ve-done-for-my-kids-is-writing-a-song-about-a/) [Shooter Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shooter-jennings/) > [“The year was over last Friday and it was a good one, but last year is gone. The score right now is nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-c-greenberg/the-year-was-over-last-friday-and-it-was-a-good-one-but-last-year-is/) [Alan C. Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-c-greenberg/) > [The old year is gone and the New Year will bring everything that you missed last year! Have a rocking 2014 ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-old-year-is-gone-and-the-new-year-will-bring-everything-that-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-payson-powell/the-old-year-has-gone-let-the-dead-past-bury-its-own-dead-the-new/) Edward Payson Powell > [That's how good this has been said I can't believe the way this first year has gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jls/that-s-how-good-this-has-been-said-i-can-t-believe-the-way-this-first/) [JLS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jls/) > [Ma sighed gently and said, "A whole year gone, Charles." But Pa answered, cheerfully: "What's a year amount to? We have all the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingalls-wilder/ma-sighed-gently-and-said-a-whole-year-gone-charles-but-pa-answered/) [Laura Ingalls Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingalls-wilder/) > [But most commonly, it's one poem that I work on with a lot of intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/but-most-commonly-it-s-one-poem-that-i-work-on-with-a-lot-of-intensity/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [The poem might come to you as you're preparing to teach a lecture, right? And when you say, "no" to that occasion, that poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/the-poem-might-come-to-you-as-you-re-preparing-to-teach-a-lecture/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) ## More by Philip Levine > [I find you in these tears, few, useless and here at last. Don't come back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/i-find-you-in-these-tears-few-useless-and-here-at-last-don-t-come-back/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [I'm afraid we live at the mercy of a power, maybe a God, without mercy. And yet we find it, as I have, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/i-m-afraid-we-live-at-the-mercy-of-a-power-maybe-a-god-without-mercy/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [There'll always be working people in my poems because I grew up with them, and I am a poet of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/there-ll-always-be-working-people-in-my-poems-because-i-grew-up-with/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [How weightless/ words are when nothing will do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/how-weightless-words-are-when-nothing-will-do/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [But I'm too old to be written about as a young poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/but-i-m-too-old-to-be-written-about-as-a-young-poet/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [But most commonly, it's one poem that I work on with a lot of intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/but-most-commonly-it-s-one-poem-that-i-work-on-with-a-lot-of-intensity/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“He embodied what he worshipped, the exquisite in the commonplace…salt for the spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/he-embodied-what-he-worshipped-the-exquisite-in-the-commonplace-salt/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“As you know, Joyce was a writer who asked his reader to give him a lifetime,” he said. “I am that reader, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/as-you-know-joyce-was-a-writer-who-asked-his-reader-to-give-him-a/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“Thirty years will pass before I remember that moment when suddenly I knew each man has one brother who dies when he sleeps and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/thirty-years-will-pass-before-i-remember-that-moment-when-suddenly-i/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“From they sack and they belly opened And all that was hidden burning on the oil-stained earth They feed they Lion and he comes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/from-they-sack-and-they-belly-opened-and-all-that-was-hidden-burning/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [Corruption is subtle, just like the Bible said. Many young poets have come to me and asked, How am I gonna make it? They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/corruption-is-subtle-just-like-the-bible-said-many-young-poets-have/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“ Our Valley We don't see the ocean, not ever, but in July and August when the worst heat seems to rise from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/our-valley-we-don-t-see-the-ocean-not-ever-but-in-july-and-august/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“The earth drinks all that’s left of you and asks for more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/the-earth-drinks-all-that-s-left-of-you-and-asks-for-more/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [I started listening to music when I wrote when I had three sons at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/i-started-listening-to-music-when-i-wrote-when-i-had-three-sons-at/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [Listen to these young poets and you'll discover the voice of the present and hear the voice of the future before the future is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/listen-to-these-young-poets-and-you-ll-discover-the-voice-of-the/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) [Explore all 48 Philip Levine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) ## More Gone quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [“I notice when you’re gone. Or do I? How can I observe something that isn’t there?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-notice-when-you-re-gone-or-do-i-how-can-i-observe-something-that/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [You're getting into some kind of shape, cop." Aw, come on, now." Butch grinned. "Don't let that shower we took go to your head."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/you-re-getting-into-some-kind-of-shape-cop-aw-come-on-now-butch/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [Would she understand that time had stopped while she was gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/would-she-understand-that-time-had-stopped-while-she-was-gone/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [They paved paradise and put up a parkin lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/they-paved-paradise-and-put-up-a-parkin-lot-with-a-pink-hotel-a/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The amazing thing is that we live our lives with the hope that things will go right, that things will happen. And all along…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-nakadate/the-amazing-thing-is-that-we-live-our-lives-with-the-hope-that-things/) [Laurel Nakadate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-nakadate/) > [I think I need the demons in order to write, but the demons have gone. It bothers me a lot. I've tried and tried,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wilson/i-think-i-need-the-demons-in-order-to-write-but-the-demons-have-gone/) [Brian Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wilson/) > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [“I am disappearing, maybe I'm already gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-niven/i-am-disappearing-maybe-i-m-already-gone/) [Jennifer Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-niven/) > [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [You don't think. It's all instinct. If you stop to think, you're gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugar-ray-robinson/you-don-t-think-it-s-all-instinct-if-you-stop-to-think-you-re-gone/) [Sugar Ray Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugar-ray-robinson/) > [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [The weird thing was that Soft Cell was supposed to have come and gone before I started the album.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-almond/the-weird-thing-was-that-soft-cell-was-supposed-to-have-come-and-gone/) [Marc Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-almond/) Browse all 7,934 Gone quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a year and gone back to it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Levine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a-year-and-gone-back-to-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gone" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a-year-and-gone-back-to-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/philip-levine-14083_gone_back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a_1431188.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Back then, I couldn't have left a poem a year and gone back to it.” — Philip Levine", "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": "Philip Levine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Back then, I couldn't have left...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a-year-and-gone-back-to-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/back-then-i-couldn-t-have-left-a-poem-a-year-and-gone-back-to-it/#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 } } ] } ```