--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The best argument for teaching poetry is…" description: "\"The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a three-year-old or a four-year-old and read Dr. Seuss, or Robert Louis Stevenson, and to feel how the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png" --- # The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a… ![“The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a three-year-old or a four-year-old and read Dr. Seuss, or Robert Louis Stevenson, and to feel how the child and you are engaging in something that's really basic to the animal, which is passing on in these rhythmic ways, something that came from…” quote by Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png) > “The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a three-year-old or a four-year-old and read Dr. Seuss, or Robert Louis Stevenson, and to feel how the child and you are engaging in something that's really basic to the animal, which is passing on in these rhythmic ways, something that came from somewhere.” [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching poetry to children connects them to fundamental rhythmic storytelling, linking human experience across ages. **In simple terms:** Poetry links children to basic, shared rhythms. Key Takeaway Use simple, rhythmic poems in early education. Themes education poetry child development rhythm culture Mood educational inspirational Type practical reflective When to use this quote - classroom reading - parental storytelling - curriculum design - early literacy Key Concepts literature cognitive development tradition Questions to Reflect On - How does rhythm aid comprehension? - What poems resonate with diverse children? A Different Perspective May not suit all learning styles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) ## Related quotes > [For a lot of people, well-meaning teaching has made poetry seem arcane, difficult, a kind of brown-knotting medicine that might be good for you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/for-a-lot-of-people-well-meaning-teaching-has-made-poetry-seem-arcane/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [There's not a big range in the political poetry of the last year, or not a political range. On the one hand, no poet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-biespiel/there-s-not-a-big-range-in-the-political-poetry-of-the-last-year-or/) [David Biespiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-biespiel/) > [I love teaching poetry writing. Students come into the class thinking poetry has to be one way, then leave having created pieces that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-love-teaching-poetry-writing-students-come-into-the-class-thinking/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [Teaching poetry, teaching as such, is worthy - if back breaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/teaching-poetry-teaching-as-such-is-worthy-if-back-breaking/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [When you reach out and touch other human beings, it doesn't matter whether you call it therapy or teaching or poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/when-you-reach-out-and-touch-other-human-beings-it-doesn-t-matter/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“My taste runs to hourglasses, maps, seventeenth-century typefaces, etymologies, the taste of coffee, and the prose of Robert Louis Stevenson.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/my-taste-runs-to-hourglasses-maps-seventeenth-century-typefaces/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“In 1891, Robert Louis Stevenson received a letter from a Vermont girl named Annie Ide. Her birthday fell on Christmas, she said, and she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-ross/in-1891-robert-louis-stevenson-received-a-letter-from-a-vermont-girl/) [Greg Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-ross/) > [If you want to know why the coast is such an inspirational place, ask Herman Melville, Jack London, Nordhoff and Hall, Robert Louis Stevenson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cooper-clarke/if-you-want-to-know-why-the-coast-is-such-an-inspirational-place-ask/) [John Cooper Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cooper-clarke/) > [I really learned how to write from Robert Louis Stevenson, Anthony Trollope, and de Maupassant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/i-really-learned-how-to-write-from-robert-louis-stevenson-anthony/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [“Robert Louis Stevenson called wine “bottled poetry,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-bosker/robert-louis-stevenson-called-wine-bottled-poetry/) [Bianca Bosker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-bosker/) > [“Fear is the strong passion; it is with fear that you must trifle, if you wish to taste the intensest joys of living. Robert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-masello/fear-is-the-strong-passion-it-is-with-fear-that-you-must-trifle-if/) [Robert Masello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-masello/) > [Robert Louis Stevenson...was a storyteller, that's what I'd like to be, that's what I'm trying to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintin-jardine/robert-louis-stevenson-was-a-storyteller-that-s-what-i-d-like-to-be/) Quintin Jardine > [“Conversation lets you be an artist every time you open your mouth--or shut it. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, "The most important art is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-shepherd/conversation-lets-you-be-an-artist-every-time-you-open-your-mouth-or/) Margaret Shepherd > [“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/to-know-what-you-prefer-instead-of-humbly-saying-amen-to-what-the/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [The songs are not meant to be real life. They're meant to have a psychic - rather than a factual - bearing on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/the-songs-are-not-meant-to-be-real-life-they-re-meant-to-have-a/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) ## More by Robert Pinsky > [I have always been thinking about the sounds and shades and aromas of words - fitting them together or disrupting their customary march -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/i-have-always-been-thinking-about-the-sounds-and-shades-and-aromas-of/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [I am a frustrated saxophone player. If I could, I would abandon all of my books, and I would trade it all if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/i-am-a-frustrated-saxophone-player-if-i-could-i-would-abandon-all-of/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [When I was a teenager, just about the only thing I could do right was play music. In my graduating class, I was certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/when-i-was-a-teenager-just-about-the-only-thing-i-could-do-right-was/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [Poetry’s medium is the individual chest and throat and mouth of whoever undertakes to say the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/poetry-s-medium-is-the-individual-chest-and-throat-and-mouth-of/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [An artist needs not so much an audience, as to feel a need to answer, a promise to respond…a good feeling about his art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/an-artist-needs-not-so-much-an-audience-as-to-feel-a-need-to-answer-a/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [“This is one of the great human mysteries: why do works of art about bad things such as loss and deprivation make us feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/this-is-one-of-the-great-human-mysteries-why-do-works-of-art-about/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [Autobiography is a genre notorious for falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/autobiography-is-a-genre-notorious-for-falsehood/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [Even in the scorched and frozen world of the dead after the holocaust The wheel as it turns goes on accreting ornaments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/even-in-the-scorched-and-frozen-world-of-the-dead-after-the-holocaust/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [In jazz, as in poetry, there is always that play between what’s regular and what’s wild. That has always appealed to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/in-jazz-as-in-poetry-there-is-always-that-play-between-what-s-regular/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [The last thing a young artist should do in poetry or any other field is think about whats in style, whats current, what are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/the-last-thing-a-young-artist-should-do-in-poetry-or-any-other-field/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [The wonderful 17th Century poet, Robert Herrick, wrote a poem entitled, 'To Live Merrily and to Trust to Good Verses.' Easy to say, Robert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/the-wonderful-17th-century-poet-robert-herrick-wrote-a-poem-entitled/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > ['Write' is almost the wrong verb for what I do. I think 'compose' is more accurate because you're trying to make the sounds in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/write-is-almost-the-wrong-verb-for-what-i-do-i-think-compose-is-more/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [My poems - like my family life, my life with friends, my teaching - these things express who I am. I don't feel any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/my-poems-like-my-family-life-my-life-with-friends-my-teaching-these/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [“Symmetry suggests one myth, or significance: the drinking of writers coming from too much concentration, in solitude, upon feelings expressed for or even about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/symmetry-suggests-one-myth-or-significance-the-drinking-of-writers/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [I love form, but I'm not interested in forms. I've never written a sonnet or villanelle or sestina or any of that. For me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/i-love-form-but-i-m-not-interested-in-forms-i-ve-never-written-a/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) [Explore all 60 Robert Pinsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a three-year-old or a four-year-old and read Dr. Seuss, or Robert Louis Stevenson, and to feel how the child and you are engaging in something that's really basic to the animal, which is passing on in these rhythmic ways, something that came from somewhere.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Pinsky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is-to-put-a-three-year-old-or-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is-to-put-a-three-year-old-or-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/robert-pinsky-11434_animal_the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is_3162392.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a three-year-old or a four-year-old and read Dr. Seuss, or…” — Robert Pinsky", "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": "Robert Pinsky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The best argument for teaching poetry...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is-to-put-a-three-year-old-or-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/the-best-argument-for-teaching-poetry-is-to-put-a-three-year-old-or-a/#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 } } ] } ```