--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs." description: "\"I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs.\" — Theodore Roethke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/theodore-roethke-4077_inspirational_i-teach-my-sighs-to-lengthen-into-songs_2694648.jpg" --- # I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs. ![“I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs.” quote by Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/theodore-roethke-4077_inspirational_i-teach-my-sighs-to-lengthen-into-songs_2694648.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/theodore-roethke-4077_inspirational_i-teach-my-sighs-to-lengthen-into-songs_2694648.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/theodore-roethke-4077_inspirational_i-teach-my-sighs-to-lengthen-into-songs_2694648.jpg) > “I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs.” [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet transforms sighs into extended, melodic expressions, suggesting emotional release through artistic lengthening. **In simple terms:** Sighs become songs. Key Takeaway Turn frustration into art. Themes creativity emotion expression Mood introspective melancholic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - writing workshops - therapy sessions Key Concepts Poetry metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn everyday sighs into creative output? - What emotions emerge when you stretch a sigh? A Different Perspective May lose original feeling in translation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [“I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs, Yet, like a tree, endure the shift of things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-teach-my-sighs-to-lengthen-into-songs-yet-like-a-tree-endure-the/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-a-smoke-made-with-the-fume-of-sighs-being-purg-d-a-fire/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Most of the sighs we hear have been edited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/most-of-the-sighs-we-hear-have-been-edited/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [We'll have our fill of tears, our share of sighs. My only prayer is that you'll realize you'll always be beautiful in my eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-kadison/we-ll-have-our-fill-of-tears-our-share-of-sighs-my-only-prayer-is/) [Joshua Kadison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-kadison/) > [I was on a walking tour of Oxford colleges once with a group of bored and unimpressable tourists. They yawned at Balliol's quad, T.E.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/i-was-on-a-walking-tour-of-oxford-colleges-once-with-a-group-of-bored/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [The man who let the love of his life pass him by will end up alone with his regrets and all the sighs in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/the-man-who-let-the-love-of-his-life-pass-him-by-will-end-up-alone/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [“The word "miss" is so wistful. As is the word "wistful," for that matter. They both have sighs embedded in them, that "iss" sound.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/the-word-miss-is-so-wistful-as-is-the-word-wistful-for-that-matter/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [She's got Greta Garbo's standoff sighs, she's got Bette Davis eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-carnes/she-s-got-greta-garbo-s-standoff-sighs-she-s-got-bette-davis-eyes/) [Kim Carnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-carnes/) > [Out of the sighs of one generation are kneaded the hopes of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/machado-de-assis/out-of-the-sighs-of-one-generation-are-kneaded-the-hopes-of-the-next/) [Machado de Assis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/machado-de-assis/) > [Life is but sighs; and, when they cease, 'tis over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/life-is-but-sighs-and-when-they-cease-tis-over/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [“Somewhere in the shape sighs take.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-conaway/somewhere-in-the-shape-sighs-take/) [Cameron Conaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-conaway/) > [Opportunity never knocks. It hangs thick in the air all around you. You breathe it unthinking, and dissipate it with your sighs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-h-williams/opportunity-never-knocks-it-hangs-thick-in-the-air-all-around-you-you/) [Roy H. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-h-williams/) > [“It was a pointed sigh, as sighs sometimes are, not one cast into the air to evaporate, but one calculated to descend, precisely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/it-was-a-pointed-sigh-as-sighs-sometimes-are-not-one-cast-into-the/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [it is my lady! \*sighs\* o, it is my love! o, that she knew she were! she speaks, yet she sais nothing. what of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/it-is-my-lady-sighs-o-it-is-my-love-o-that-she-knew-she-were-she/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [He saw wan Woman toil with famished eyes; He saw her bound, and strove to sing her free. He saw her fall'n; and wrote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-watson/he-saw-wan-woman-toil-with-famished-eyes-he-saw-her-bound-and-strove/) [William Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-watson/) ## More by Theodore Roethke > [I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-wake-to-sleep-and-take-my-waking-slow-i-feel-my-fate-in-what-i/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/those-who-are-willing-to-be-vulnerable-move-among-mysteries/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [A lively understandable spirit Once entertained you. It will come again. Be still. Wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-lively-understandable-spirit-once-entertained-you-it-will-come/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I came to love, I came into my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-came-to-love-i-came-into-my-own/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I bleed my bones, their marrow to bestowUpon that God who knows what I would know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-bleed-my-bones-their-marrow-to-bestowupon-that-god-who-knows-what-i/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/all-finite-things-reveal-infinitude-the-mountain-with-its-singular/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [We think by feeling. What is there to know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/we-think-by-feeling-what-is-there-to-know/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I can hear, underground, that sucking and sobbing, In my veins, in my bones I feel it,- The small water seeping upward, The tight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-can-hear-underground-that-sucking-and-sobbing-in-my-veins-in-my/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/over-every-mountain-there-is-a-path-although-it-may-not-be-seen-from/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [(I measure time by how a body sways.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-measure-time-by-how-a-body-sways/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [To follow the drops sliding from a lifting oar, Head up, while the rower breathes, and the small boat drifts quietly shoreward...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/to-follow-the-drops-sliding-from-a-lifting-oar-head-up-while-the/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Any fool can take a bad line out of a poem; it takes a real pro to throw out a good line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/any-fool-can-take-a-bad-line-out-of-a-poem-it-takes-a-real-pro-to/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Love begets love. This torment is my joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/love-begets-love-this-torment-is-my-joy/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [“I Knew a Woman" I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; Ah, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-knew-a-woman-i-knew-a-woman-lovely-in-her-bones-when-small-birds/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [A mind too active is no mind at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-mind-too-active-is-no-mind-at-all/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) [Explore all 116 Theodore Roethke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) ## More Inspirational quotes > [Life is full of change. 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The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Just understand that the good that you want is already here. All you have to do is get in harmony with it. And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/just-understand-that-the-good-that-you-want-is-already-here-all-you/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. 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