--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Contemporary poetry ... tries to…" description: "\"Contemporary poetry ... tries to transform the sign back into meaning: its ideal, ultimately, would be to reach not the meaning of words, but the meani..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/roland-barthes-1062_clouds_contemporary-poetry-tries-to-transform-t_1580489.jpg" --- # Contemporary poetry ... tries to transform the sign back… ![“Contemporary poetry ... tries to transform the sign back into meaning: its ideal, ultimately, would be to reach not the meaning of words, but the meaning of things themselves. This is why it clouds the language, increases as much as it can the abstractness of the concept and the arbitrariness of…” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/roland-barthes-1062_clouds_contemporary-poetry-tries-to-transform-t_1580489.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/roland-barthes-1062_clouds_contemporary-poetry-tries-to-transform-t_1580489.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/roland-barthes-1062_clouds_contemporary-poetry-tries-to-transform-t_1580489.jpg) > “Contemporary poetry ... tries to transform the sign back into meaning: its ideal, ultimately, would be to reach not the meaning of words, but the meaning of things themselves. This is why it clouds the language, increases as much as it can the abstractness of the concept and the arbitrariness of the sign and stretches to the limit the link between signifier and signified.” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry seeks to turn signs into the meaning of things, making language more abstract and stretching the signifier‑signified link. **In simple terms:** Poetry tries to make words mean the things themselves. Key Takeaway Embrace poetry’s ability to reshape meaning. Themes art language meaning abstraction Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - analyzing poems - writing experimental verse - studying sign theory - teaching literature Key Concepts semiotics post‑structuralism Questions to Reflect On - How does this view change your reading of poetry? - Can meaning be fully captured by signs? A Different Perspective Abstractness can alienate readers unfamiliar with theory. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Meanings of words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meanings-of-words/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [The connection between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/the-connection-between-the-signifier-and-the-signified-is-arbitrary/) [Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/) > [Language is a signifier - it points to something. But those somethings change sometimes. 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I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More Clouds quotes > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. 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C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Max—you have a bigger mission than finding the flock's parents. Focus on helping the whole world, not just your friends. I held my wings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/max-you-have-a-bigger-mission-than-finding-the-flock-s-parents-focus/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my fights be wild, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/above-the-clouds-i-lift-my-wing-to-hear-the-bells-of-heaven-ring-some/) [Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [Sometimes in life the clouds are too dark to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/sometimes-in-life-the-clouds-are-too-dark-to-see/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years. 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