--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a man makes a poem, makes it, mind…" description: "\"When a man makes a poem, makes it, mind you, he takes words as he finds them interrelated about him and composes them - without distortion which would ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/101/william-carlos-williams-1841_ardor_when-a-man-makes-a-poem-makes-it-mind-yo_2726912.png" --- # When a man makes a poem, makes it, mind you, he takes… ![“When a man makes a poem, makes it, mind you, he takes words as he finds them interrelated about him and composes them - without distortion which would mar their exact significances - into an intense expression of his perceptions and ardors that they may constitute a revelation in the speech that…” quote by William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/101/william-carlos-williams-1841_ardor_when-a-man-makes-a-poem-makes-it-mind-yo_2726912.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/101/william-carlos-williams-1841_ardor_when-a-man-makes-a-poem-makes-it-mind-yo_2726912.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/101/william-carlos-williams-1841_ardor_when-a-man-makes-a-poem-makes-it-mind-yo_2726912.png) > “When a man makes a poem, makes it, mind you, he takes words as he finds them interrelated about him and composes them - without distortion which would mar their exact significances - into an intense expression of his perceptions and ardors that they may constitute a revelation in the speech that he uses. It isn't what he says that counts as a work of art, it's what he makes, with such intensity of perception that it lives with an intrinsic movement of its own to verify its authenticity.” [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. Poetry is an authentic, intense arrangement of words that reflects the poet’s perception, where meaning arises from the craft, not merely the content. **In simple terms:** Poetry’s power lies in its intense, authentic expression. Key Takeaway Focus on authentic, intense expression in writing. Themes art creativity perception authenticity Mood reflective inspirational analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - writing poetry - teaching creative writing - analyzing literature - personal reflection Key Concepts literary theory poetics Questions to Reflect On - What makes a poem feel authentic? - How does intensity affect a reader’s experience? A Different Perspective The emphasis on intensity may neglect subtlety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ardor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ardor/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Authenticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authenticity/) [Distortion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distortion/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Intensity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intensity/) [Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mars/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Revelations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelations/) [Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/significance/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Again like Williams, with the emphasis now regrettable, when a man makes a poem, makes it mind you, he takes the words as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-creeley/again-like-williams-with-the-emphasis-now-regrettable-when-a-man/) [Robert Creeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-creeley/) > [I try to use my privilege to deconstruct from inside the racist, homophobic, heterocentric house, as an ally, while compatriot tools dismantle the patriarch's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen-hall/i-try-to-use-my-privilege-to-deconstruct-from-inside-the-racist/) James Allen Hall > [When I get interested in a new topic I teach a class on it. There's a graduate seminar I teach in which the students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthea-harvey/when-i-get-interested-in-a-new-topic-i-teach-a-class-on-it-there-s-a/) [Matthea Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthea-harvey/) > [For it is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem, - a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/for-it-is-not-metres-but-a-metre-making-argument-that-makes-a-poem-a/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Stone: Yes, we are everything, every experience we've ever had, and in some of us, a lot of it translates and makes patterns, poems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-stone/stone-yes-we-are-everything-every-experience-we-ve-ever-had-and-in/) [Ruth Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-stone/) > [For it is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/for-it-is-not-metres-but-a-metre-making-argument-that-makes-a-poem/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [What makes a poem is the discipline inherent in making a poem: trying to fit feelings in the requisite number of syllables and lines,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/what-makes-a-poem-is-the-discipline-inherent-in-making-a-poem-trying/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Often it is a moment rather than an event that makes a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/often-it-is-a-moment-rather-than-an-event-that-makes-a-poem/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not what makes the poem. A man does not go in search of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-wanli/the-poet-must-work-with-brush-and-paper-but-this-is-not-what-makes/) Yang Wanli > [It takes few words to tell the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/it-takes-few-words-to-tell-the-truth/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) > [It takes only a few words to hurt, but it takes more than words to heal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-only-a-few-words-to-hurt-but-it-takes-more-than-words-to-heal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes it only takes three words, so long as they're the right words, to direct an actor in the right way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-leconte/sometimes-it-only-takes-three-words-so-long-as-they-re-the-right/) [Patrice Leconte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-leconte/) > [THE TRUTH IS FLAT OUT IN YOUR FACE AND TAKES VERY FEW WORDS TO TELL IT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-paul-rose/the-truth-is-flat-out-in-your-face-and-takes-very-few-words-to-tell-it/) [LEONARD PAUL ROSE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-paul-rose/) > [“I don’t want to say that I believe in God. Rather, I want to live out my life like I believe in God because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-don-t-want-to-say-that-i-believe-in-god-rather-i-want-to-live-out/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Sometimes, when you see a person cry, it's better not to ask why. Sometimes it takes only three words to make them happy again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-when-you-see-a-person-cry-it-s-better-not-to-ask-why/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Ardor quotes > [“But where do we find what's lasting? Where do the deathless things hide?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/but-where-do-we-find-what-s-lasting-where-do-the-deathless-things-hide/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I believe verbal felicity is the fruit of ardor, of diligence, and of refusing to be false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/i-believe-verbal-felicity-is-the-fruit-of-ardor-of-diligence-and-of/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Without wishing to damp the ardor of curiosity or influence the freedom of inquiry, I will hazard a prediction that, after the most industrious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/without-wishing-to-damp-the-ardor-of-curiosity-or-influence-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [“She could have rambled with all the fervor of a woman who had loved one entity for longer than most races live, and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrell-drake/she-could-have-rambled-with-all-the-fervor-of-a-woman-who-had-loved/) [Darrell Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrell-drake/) > [There was a new kind of strength in the gravity of her face, and her colors still gave her that look of deep-seated health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/there-was-a-new-kind-of-strength-in-the-gravity-of-her-face-and-her/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [In work consists the true pride of life; grounded in active employment, though early ardor may abate, it never degenerates into indifference, and age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-hartley-grindon/in-work-consists-the-true-pride-of-life-grounded-in-active-employment/) Leopold Hartley Grindon > [Always man needs woman for his friend. He needs her clearer vision, her subtler insight, her softer thought, her winged soul, her pure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-ames/always-man-needs-woman-for-his-friend-he-needs-her-clearer-vision-her/) [Mary C. Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-ames/) > [Before Midnight is one of the years best movies. Full to the brim with humor, heartbreak, and ravishing romance. Richard Linklater directs with ardor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-travers/before-midnight-is-one-of-the-years-best-movies-full-to-the-brim-with/) [Peter Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-travers/) > [As each man's strength gives out, as it no longer responds to his will, the inertia of the whole gradually comes to rest on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/as-each-man-s-strength-gives-out-as-it-no-longer-responds-to-his-will/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [In proportion as the ardor of divine love brings you nearer to God, so will a larger concourse of saintly brethren flock to you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassian/in-proportion-as-the-ardor-of-divine-love-brings-you-nearer-to-god-so/) [John Cassian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassian/) > [Obsessions of the Orient, of the desert, of its ardor and its emptiness, of the shadows of palm gardens, of the garments white and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/obsessions-of-the-orient-of-the-desert-of-its-ardor-and-its-emptiness/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [Life is short, so fall in love, dear maiden, before your youthful ardor cools off, for there is no tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atsushi/life-is-short-so-fall-in-love-dear-maiden-before-your-youthful-ardor/) [Atsushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atsushi/) > [I remind you that I belong with great ardor to everyone and for this reason I am suffering immensely for all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/i-remind-you-that-i-belong-with-great-ardor-to-everyone-and-for-this/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/he-who-wishes-to-fight-must-first-count-the-cost-when-you-engage-in/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“Fogoso gozo fogo.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/filipe-russo/fogoso-gozo-fogo/) [Filipe Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/filipe-russo/) [Browse all 74 Ardor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ardor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When a man makes a poem, makes it, mind you, he takes words as he finds them interrelated about him and composes them - without distortion which would mar their exact significances - into an intense expression of his perceptions and ardors that they may constitute a revelation in the speech that he uses. 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