--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My first poem was a bolt from the blue ……" description: "\"My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. … it filled me with soul satisfying joy\" — William C..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png" --- # My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell… ![“My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. … it filled me with soul satisfying joy” quote by William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png) > “My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. … it filled me with soul satisfying joy” [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A sudden burst of creative inspiration broke a period of deep despair, bringing profound joy and renewed purpose. **In simple terms:** Creative spark ended despair, bringing joy. Key Takeaway Embrace inspiration when it arrives. Themes creativity mental health rebirth Mood hopeful reflective Type inspirational personal When to use this quote - writing breakthrough - personal recovery - mental health improvement Key Concepts existential relief artistic awakening Questions to Reflect On - What sparked your creative breakthrough? - How can you nurture that joy? A Different Perspective The joy may be fleeting without sustained creative practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Disillusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusion/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Satisfying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfying/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) ## Related quotes > [Trusting Him to work out your circumstances instead of using your own might and power will bring deep satisfying joy into your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/trusting-him-to-work-out-your-circumstances-instead-of-using-your-own/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Dining with one's friends and beloved family is certainly one of life's primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/dining-with-one-s-friends-and-beloved-family-is-certainly-one-of-life/) [Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/) > [The essence of the game is not "fun," but the soul-satisfying awareness that comes from communal work and sacrifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-blaik/the-essence-of-the-game-is-not-fun-but-the-soul-satisfying-awareness/) [Earl Blaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-blaik/) > [I have tried drugs and a little of everything else, and there is nothing in the world more soul-satisfying than having the kingdom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-cash/i-have-tried-drugs-and-a-little-of-everything-else-and-there-is/) [Johnny Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-cash/) > [“Holden went to his bungalow and began to understand that he was not alone in the world, and also that he was afraid for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/holden-went-to-his-bungalow-and-began-to-understand-that-he-was-not/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“..those soul-satisfying feelings quickly capture our attention, and we no longer wish to pay attention to physical clues. Instead, our focus is on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-r-fish/those-soul-satisfying-feelings-quickly-capture-our-attention-and-we/) Errol R. Fish > [Once, hurrying through a busy airport to get to my gate on time for a connecting flight, I came upon a lady in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-troccoli/once-hurrying-through-a-busy-airport-to-get-to-my-gate-on-time-for-a/) [Kathy Troccoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-troccoli/) > [“To take the world into one's arms and act towards it in a soul-filled and soul-strengthening manner is a powerful act of wildish spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/to-take-the-world-into-one-s-arms-and-act-towards-it-in-a-soul-filled/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estés](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [He was afraid of defiling the love which filled his soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-afraid-of-defiling-the-love-which-filled-his-soul/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Blessed be God that Thou hast filled the soul of Thy servant with joy and peace in believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-love/blessed-be-god-that-thou-hast-filled-the-soul-of-thy-servant-with-joy/) [Christopher Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-love/) > [Although my love for you runs deep within my heart, you filled my soul with sorrow and pain. Because of you, we will forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-bishop/although-my-love-for-you-runs-deep-within-my-heart-you-filled-my-soul/) Angela Bishop > [When you are filled with soul energy you become magnetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/choa-kok-sui/when-you-are-filled-with-soul-energy-you-become-magnetic/) [Choa Kok Sui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/choa-kok-sui/) > [Youth is the season of tragedy and despair. Youth is the time when one's whole life is entangled in a web of identity, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/youth-is-the-season-of-tragedy-and-despair-youth-is-the-time-when-one/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [Thinking I'm a moron gives people something to feel smug about," Charles Wallace said. "Why should I disillusion them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/thinking-i-m-a-moron-gives-people-something-to-feel-smug-about/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“Personal disillusionment accompanied by self-pity and self-loathing are the Achilles’ heel of modern humankind, representing the weakness of the human spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-disillusionment-accompanied-by-self-pity-and-self-loathing/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) ## More by William Carlos Williams > [“unsignificantly off the coast there was a splash quite unnoticed this was Icarus drowning”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/unsignificantly-off-the-coast-there-was-a-splash-quite-unnoticed-this/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Death will be late to bring us aid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/death-will-be-late-to-bring-us-aid/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [What power has love but forgiveness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/what-power-has-love-but-forgiveness/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/i-think-all-writing-is-a-disease-you-can-t-stop-it/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/the-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“You're a romanticist. What do you think a man is, a papaya? To digest your dinner? In pill form?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/you-re-a-romanticist-what-do-you-think-a-man-is-a-papaya-to-digest/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Imagination though it cannot wipe out the sting of remorse can instruct the mind in its proper uses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/imagination-though-it-cannot-wipe-out-the-sting-of-remorse-can/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“Fools have big wombs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/fools-have-big-wombs/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“It's just a moment, we die every night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/it-s-just-a-moment-we-die-every-night/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A new music is a new mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-new-music-is-a-new-mind/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A new world is only a new mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-new-world-is-only-a-new-mind/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A poem is this:/A nuance of sound/delicately operating/upon a cataract of sense/...the particulars/of a song waking/upon a bed of sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-poem-is-this-a-nuance-of-sound-delicately-operating-upon-a-cataract/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Prose may carry a load of ill-defined matters like a ship. But poetry is the machine which drives it, pruned to a perfect economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/prose-may-carry-a-load-of-ill-defined-matters-like-a-ship-but-poetry/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [It is not what you say that matters but the manner in which you say it; there lies the secret of the ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/it-is-not-what-you-say-that-matters-but-the-manner-in-which-you-say/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“And a church spire sketched on the sky, of sheet metal and open beams, to resemble a church spire”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/and-a-church-spire-sketched-on-the-sky-of-sheet-metal-and-open-beams/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) [Explore all 204 William Carlos Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) ## More Blue quotes > [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and you're wrong, you're wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/if-you-re-white-and-you-re-wrong-then-you-re-wrong-if-you-re-black/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Human beings should stick together. Honestly, if I see a red-haired person with blue eyes now, I say, 'Is your granny black?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/human-beings-should-stick-together-honestly-if-i-see-a-red-haired/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [The Louvre! The Louvre has me in its clutches. Every time I'm there rich blessings rain down upon me. I am coming to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-modersohn-becker/the-louvre-the-louvre-has-me-in-its-clutches-every-time-i-m-there/) [Paula Modersohn-Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-modersohn-becker/) > [We live in a state with a wonderful climate and plenty of natural beauty, from the shores of Cumberland Island to the Chattahoochee River…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-barnes/we-live-in-a-state-with-a-wonderful-climate-and-plenty-of-natural/) [Roy Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-barnes/) > [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Mother, she likes the blue material just fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-white/mother-she-likes-the-blue-material-just-fine/) [Ron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-white/) > [You know, I'm the only one in this family who has no problems, . . . And you know why? Because any time I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-i-m-the-only-one-in-this-family-who-has-no-problems-and-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [it'll be this kind of deep blue”she said. “The kind of color that somehow sucks your eyes and your ears and all your words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/it-ll-be-this-kind-of-deep-blue-she-said-the-kind-of-color-that/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The grape Hyacinth is the favorite spring flower of my garden - but no! I though a minute ago the Scilla was! and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/the-grape-hyacinth-is-the-favorite-spring-flower-of-my-garden-but-no/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [I swam with my first shark in the 1980s. I was 20 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, working with a group of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-skerry/i-swam-with-my-first-shark-in-the-1980s-i-was-20-miles-off-the-coast/) [Brian Skerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-skerry/) [Browse all 3,452 Blue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. … it filled me with soul satisfying joy", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Carlos Williams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-it-broke-a-spell-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blue" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-it-broke-a-spell-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/william-carlos-williams-1841_blue_my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-i_1098427.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. … it…” — William Carlos Williams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Carlos Williams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My first poem was a bolt...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-it-broke-a-spell-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/my-first-poem-was-a-bolt-from-the-blue-it-broke-a-spell-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```