--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The poet is the priest of the invisible." description: "\"The poet is the priest of the invisible.\" — Wallace Stevens" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/wallace-stevens-846_invisible_the-poet-is-the-priest-of-the-invisible_338485.jpg" --- # The poet is the priest of the invisible. ![“The poet is the priest of the invisible.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/wallace-stevens-846_invisible_the-poet-is-the-priest-of-the-invisible_338485.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/wallace-stevens-846_invisible_the-poet-is-the-priest-of-the-invisible_338485.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/wallace-stevens-846_invisible_the-poet-is-the-priest-of-the-invisible_338485.jpg) > “The poet is the priest of the invisible.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## 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 translates unseen truths into language, acting as a mediator between the intangible and the tangible. **In simple terms:** Poets give voice to the unseen. Key Takeaway Recognize the hidden layers in reality. Themes creativity spirituality interpretation Mood contemplative inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading poetry - art criticism - spiritual reflection Key Concepts aesthetics transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do you sense the invisible in daily life? - What role does imagination play in understanding reality? A Different Perspective It may romanticize the unseen, ignoring practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Invisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisible/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poet Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet-priest-1750666/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest/) [Priest Invisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest-invisible-3151491/) ## Related quotes > [The true poet for me is a priest. As soon as he dons the cassock, he must leave his family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-true-poet-for-me-is-a-priest-as-soon-as-he-dons-the-cassock-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“...you called me poet-priest - I am. ...devoted to my art, faithful to you...or, is the other way around?...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/you-called-me-poet-priest-i-am-devoted-to-my-art-faithful-to-you-or/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...what else would a poet priest do on an endless night, but write of love?...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/what-else-would-a-poet-priest-do-on-an-endless-night-but-write-of-love/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [The world still wants its poet-priest, a reconciler, who shall not trifle with Shakspeare the player, nor shall grope in graves with Swedenborg the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-world-still-wants-its-poet-priest-a-reconciler-who-shall-not/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A priest is he who lives solely in the realm of the invisible, for whom all that is visible has only the truth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/a-priest-is-he-who-lives-solely-in-the-realm-of-the-invisible-for/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The poet is just like the fabled hunter who naps beside a tree, waiting for hares to break their skulls by running headlong into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gu-cheng/the-poet-is-just-like-the-fabled-hunter-who-naps-beside-a-tree/) [Gu Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gu-cheng/) > [The poet reminds men of their uniqueness and it is not necessary to possess the ultimate definition of this uniqueness. Even to speculate is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-cousins/the-poet-reminds-men-of-their-uniqueness-and-it-is-not-necessary-to/) [Norman Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-cousins/) > [Drill in exact translation is an excellent way of disposing the mind against that looseness and exaggeration with which the sensationalists have corrupted our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/drill-in-exact-translation-is-an-excellent-way-of-disposing-the-mind/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [“A poet is someone who can pour light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful parched, holy mouth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafiz/a-poet-is-someone-who-can-pour-light-into-a-cup-then-raise-it-to/) [Hafiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafiz/) > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“Without pain, poetry is not possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seerat/without-pain-poetry-is-not-possible/) [seerat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seerat/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More Invisible quotes > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [Inequality is pervasive but invisible. It's hard to see. You need a sort of tool to make it visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hito-steyerl/inequality-is-pervasive-but-invisible-it-s-hard-to-see-you-need-a/) [Hito Steyerl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hito-steyerl/) > [Jesus' kingdom was not like the popular expectation. He used the phrase 'kingdom of God' with a different meaning. His kingdom was not of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-harpur/jesus-kingdom-was-not-like-the-popular-expectation-he-used-the-phrase/) [Tom Harpur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-harpur/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [ I really enjoyed it - being involved in watching rushes and playback \[in "The Invisible Woman"\]. Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/death-left-its-old-tragic-heaven-and-became-the-lyrical-core-of-man/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“If you come anywhere near my daughter, I will see to it that you are taken apart piece by bloody piece. Do I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/if-you-come-anywhere-near-my-daughter-i-will-see-to-it-that-you-are/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-technology-involved-in-making-anything-invisible-is-so-infinitely/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bread-is-a-second-cause-the-lord-himself-is-the-first-source-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [How do you turn the invisible into the visible? 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