--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I…" description: "\"I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem, when I'm writing one. Having written one, then you fall away very rapidly from having be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb7/sylvia-plath-149_becoming_i-find-myself-absolutely-fulfilled-when_892586.jpg" --- # I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a… ![“I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem, when I'm writing one. Having written one, then you fall away very rapidly from having been a poet to becoming a sort of poet in rest, which isn't the same thing at all. But I think the actual experience of writing a poem is a…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb7/sylvia-plath-149_becoming_i-find-myself-absolutely-fulfilled-when_892586.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb7/sylvia-plath-149_becoming_i-find-myself-absolutely-fulfilled-when_892586.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb7/sylvia-plath-149_becoming_i-find-myself-absolutely-fulfilled-when_892586.jpg) > “I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem, when I'm writing one. Having written one, then you fall away very rapidly from having been a poet to becoming a sort of poet in rest, which isn't the same thing at all. But I think the actual experience of writing a poem is a magnificent one.” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing poetry creates a fleeting, transformative identity that shifts from active creation to passive existence. **In simple terms:** Poetry changes how we see ourselves. Key Takeaway Recognize the shift from creator to observer. Themes creativity identity artistic process Mood introspective melancholic Type essay personal When to use this quote - writing - personal growth - artistic practice Key Concepts existentialism self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does finishing a poem affect you? - Can you sustain artistic identity without constant output? A Different Perspective The sense of being a poet may be fragile and dependent on continual creation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall/) [Fulfilled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfilled/) [Having Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-poet-1163843/) [Having Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-written-508995/) [Magnificent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magnificent/) [Poem Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem-writing-1163842/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-poem-506114/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) [Written Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-poem-1142434/) ## Related quotes > [There's a fine line between writing the poem and the poem writing itself. You have to be there and not be there, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-meltzer/there-s-a-fine-line-between-writing-the-poem-and-the-poem-writing/) [David Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-meltzer/) > [I remember that as I was writing a poem on 'Snow' when I was eight, I said aloud, 'I wish I could have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-remember-that-as-i-was-writing-a-poem-on-snow-when-i-was-eight-i/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Just write a poem as if you're writing a note to one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/just-write-a-poem-as-if-you-re-writing-a-note-to-one-other-person/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [“This poem is the poem I'm writing because we aren't speaking, and it is making my heart hurt so bad that sometimes I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristin-o-keefe-aptowicz/this-poem-is-the-poem-i-m-writing-because-we-aren-t-speaking-and-it/) [Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristin-o-keefe-aptowicz/) > [There isn't a grand plan at work in the progression of the books with respect to the line. I do want the books to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthea-harvey/there-isn-t-a-grand-plan-at-work-in-the-progression-of-the-books-with/) [Matthea Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthea-harvey/) > [For a creative person there's just as much pleasure in writing an eight-line poem as there is in writing a blockbuster play ... of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/for-a-creative-person-there-s-just-as-much-pleasure-in-writing-an/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Translation makes me look at how a poem is put together in a different way, without the personal investment of the poem I'm writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/translation-makes-me-look-at-how-a-poem-is-put-together-in-a/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [“There is a difference between a poem and a writing incrusted with a feel of Poetry to fall within range”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mpho-leteng/there-is-a-difference-between-a-poem-and-a-writing-incrusted-with-a/) [Mpho Leteng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mpho-leteng/) > [I’ve written this poem before but always through a window, never through an open door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-gibson/i-ve-written-this-poem-before-but-always-through-a-window-never/) [Andrea Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-gibson/) > [“For a moment nothing happens. The figure stands still and I stand cold and alive and- He starts to run. I make my way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/for-a-moment-nothing-happens-the-figure-stands-still-and-i-stand-cold/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [I began composing the next poem, the one that was to be written next. Not the last poem of those I had read, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-began-composing-the-next-poem-the-one-that-was-to-be-written-next/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I just think that the world of workshops - I've written a poem that is a parody of workshop talk, I've written a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-just-think-that-the-world-of-workshops-i-ve-written-a-poem-that-is/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [“The oldest written poem was by the Greek, Homer. His poem, The Iliad, tells the story of the siege of Troy, a story of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-deary/the-oldest-written-poem-was-by-the-greek-homer-his-poem-the-iliad/) [Terry Deary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-deary/) > [ I read the text; and then I come to the Shirat ha-Yam, to the Song of the Sea \[Exodus 15\], to the poetry. Who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-read-the-text-and-then-i-come-to-the-shirat-ha-yam-to-the-song-of/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) [Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-m-getting-to-a-point-where-everything-is-becoming-streamlined-in-my/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) [Christopher Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-wood/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion...What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/trying-to-be-perfect-may-be-inevitable-for-people-who-are-smart-and/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) [Browse all 4,715 Becoming quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem, when I'm writing one. 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