--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I first became brave enough to tell…" description: "\"When I first became brave enough to tell people that I wrote poems, so many people would rave to me about Edna St. Vincent Millay's work. I was embarra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/tracy-k-smith-8847_brave_when-i-first-became-brave-enough-to-tell_963916.jpg" --- # When I first became brave enough to tell people that I… ![“When I first became brave enough to tell people that I wrote poems, so many people would rave to me about Edna St. Vincent Millay's work. I was embarrassed not to have read her, and I think that put me off from reading her for a long time. So many of her poems are just impeccable.” quote by Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/tracy-k-smith-8847_brave_when-i-first-became-brave-enough-to-tell_963916.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/tracy-k-smith-8847_brave_when-i-first-became-brave-enough-to-tell_963916.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/tracy-k-smith-8847_brave_when-i-first-became-brave-enough-to-tell_963916.jpg) > “When I first became brave enough to tell people that I wrote poems, so many people would rave to me about Edna St. Vincent Millay's work. I was embarrassed not to have read her, and I think that put me off from reading her for a long time. So many of her poems are just impeccable.” [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels embarrassed for not having read a celebrated poet before, which discouraged further engagement, despite recognizing the poet’s excellence. **In simple terms:** She was shy about not knowing a famous poet, which stopped her from reading more. Key Takeaway Overcome embarrassment to explore admired works. Themes self‑doubt literary admiration learning barriers confidence Mood introspective motivational Type inspirational educational When to use this quote - creative writing - literary studies - book clubs - self‑education Key Concepts authorial influence literary canon personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to confront literary gaps? - How does admiration affect your willingness to learn? A Different Perspective Embarrassment can hinder appreciation of great literature. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Millay Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millay-work-1802507/) [Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems/) [Poems People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems-people-373274/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Rave Edna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rave-edna-1802506/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Wrote Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote-poems-247561/) ## Related quotes > [“Who will read these poems when the people are gone?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-owen-mallary/who-will-read-these-poems-when-the-people-are-gone/) [Dominic Owen Mallary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-owen-mallary/) > [If I were to die thinking that I'd written three poems that people might read after me, I would feel that I hadn't lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/if-i-were-to-die-thinking-that-i-d-written-three-poems-that-people/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [Poems are other people's snapshots in which we see our own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/poems-are-other-people-s-snapshots-in-which-we-see-our-own-lives/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“Jane,' she said, climbing down from the chair. 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No, what?' I would say. A piece of dust.' Then, just as he was smiling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/do-you-know-what-a-poem-is-esther-no-what-i-would-say-a-piece-of-dust/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Writing the poems, I came to think that regarding is a form of love, but the regarding is not necessarily accurate. In the poems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-katz/writing-the-poems-i-came-to-think-that-regarding-is-a-form-of-love/) [Joy Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-katz/) > [If I were brave enough to say so, I'd like to think that I had written some poems that people are not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-davison/if-i-were-brave-enough-to-say-so-i-d-like-to-think-that-i-had-written/) [Peter Davison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-davison/) > [At times of crisis or distress, it's poems that people turn to. 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Perhaps they are Too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-tan/have-you-ever-wondered-what-happens-to-all-the-poems-people-write-the/) [Shaun Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-tan/) > [I want to just go to places where writers don't usually go, where people like me don't usually show up, and say, 'Here are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-want-to-just-go-to-places-where-writers-don-t-usually-go-where/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) ## More by Tracy K. Smith > [I've been beating my head all day long on the same six lines,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-ve-been-beating-my-head-all-day-long-on-the-same-six-lines/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [For years following the death of my mother, I wanted to write about her. I started writing what I thought of as personal essays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/for-years-following-the-death-of-my-mother-i-wanted-to-write-about/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [“So much we once coveted. So much That would have saved us, but lived, Instead, its own quick span, returning To uselessness with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/so-much-we-once-coveted-so-much-that-would-have-saved-us-but-lived/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [“sometimes, what i see is a library in a rural community. all the tall shelves in the big open room. and the pencils in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/sometimes-what-i-see-is-a-library-in-a-rural-community-all-the-tall/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [I have three kids, so children's literature is a big part of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-have-three-kids-so-children-s-literature-is-a-big-part-of-my-life/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [I feel like the older I get, the truer it feels that I'm only going have an investment in a poem if it allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-feel-like-the-older-i-get-the-truer-it-feels-that-i-m-only-going/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [One of poetry's great effects, through its emphasis upon feeling, association, music, and image - things we recognize and respond to even before we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/one-of-poetry-s-great-effects-through-its-emphasis-upon-feeling/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [“we like to think of it as parallel to what we know only bigger. one man against the authorities. or one man against a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/we-like-to-think-of-it-as-parallel-to-what-we-know-only-bigger-one/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [A question is a pursuit, an invitation to envision and explore a series of possibilities, to struggle and empathize and doubt and believe. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/a-question-is-a-pursuit-an-invitation-to-envision-and-explore-a/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [I know my curiosity as a writer and as a person makes me really interested in moving to parts of the country that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-know-my-curiosity-as-a-writer-and-as-a-person-makes-me-really/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [For me, a poem is an opportunity to kind of interrogate myself a little bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/for-me-a-poem-is-an-opportunity-to-kind-of-interrogate-myself-a/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [Everything that disappears/Disappears as if returning somewhere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/everything-that-disappears-disappears-as-if-returning-somewhere/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [I feel most alive, most electric with faith, breath, and courage, when I think of God as a current that runs through all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-feel-most-alive-most-electric-with-faith-breath-and-courage-when-i/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [I want to just go to places where writers don't usually go, where people like me don't usually show up, and say, 'Here are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-want-to-just-go-to-places-where-writers-don-t-usually-go-where/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [When my father died, those years when he was working on the Hubble came back to me, and it seemed fitting to imagine him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/when-my-father-died-those-years-when-he-was-working-on-the-hubble/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) [Explore all 77 Tracy K. Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) ## More Brave quotes > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/) [Bilal Zahoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bilal-zahoor/) > [Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/be-convinced-that-to-be-happy-means-to-be-free-and-that-to-be-free/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [It's always brave to be yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-yifei/it-s-always-brave-to-be-yourself/) [Liu Yifei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-yifei/) > [“Victory is for the fucking brave, not the timid and excuse-riddled weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakk-wylde/victory-is-for-the-fucking-brave-not-the-timid-and-excuse-riddled-weak/) [Zakk Wylde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zakk-wylde/) > [I'm very proud of 'Every Girl's a Super Girl.' I want all girls to know that no matter what size, color, or shape, whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-siwa/i-m-very-proud-of-every-girl-s-a-super-girl-i-want-all-girls-to-know/) [JoJo Siwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-siwa/) > [And I read the moral--A brave endeavour To do thy duty, whate'er its worth, Is better than life with love forever, And love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-jeffrey-roche/and-i-read-the-moral-a-brave-endeavour-to-do-thy-duty-whate-er-its/) [James Jeffrey Roche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-jeffrey-roche/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [You know what really made me sick? 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They can face anything, except reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mikes/the-british-are-brave-people-they-can-face-anything-except-reality/) [George Mikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mikes/) [Browse all 3,314 Brave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I first became brave enough to tell people that I wrote poems, so many people would rave to me about Edna St. Vincent Millay's work. I was embarrassed not to have read her, and I think that put me off from reading her for a long time. So many of her poems are just impeccable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tracy K. 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