Share & Save
Meaning
This reads as a small statement of craft, not a grand theory. Atwood is pointing to the way sound can work more quietly in poetry, with pattern and echo delayed so they are felt rather than announced. It lands for anyone reading a poem that seems plain at first, then reveals its music on a second pass.
When It Was Said
Not documented yet.
Who It Was Said To
Not documented yet.
Historical Context
Not documented yet.
Source
Not documented yet.
Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
Not documented yet.
Did You Know?
Not documented yet.
About Margaret Atwood
Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and inventor
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published fiction, poetry, nonfiction, children’s books, and graphic novels, and she is best known for her 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Her work spans 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children’s books, and two graphic novels, along with small-press editions of poetry and fiction. She has received major honors including two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Order of Canada, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for literature, and lifetime achievement awards from the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA. Several of her works have been adapted for film and television.
More from Margaret Atwood (442 quotes) →Other sayings from Margaret Atwood
- “Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials. You need something scary to overcome.”Margaret Atwood
- “I don't want to see anyone. I lie in the bedroom with the curtains drawn and nothingness washing over me like…”Margaret Atwood
- “She was not stunned, the way I was. In some strange way she was gleeful, as if this was what she had been exp…”Margaret Atwood
- “Here the children have a custom. After the celebration of evil they take those vacant heads that shone once w…”Margaret Atwood
More Reflections quotes
- “It's a moral absolute: If you are going to make a human being, you have a fundamental responsibility to that…”Lynn Coady
- “Adventures are never fun while you're having them.”C.S. Lewis
- “I have one good characteristic: I'm a pessimist, so I always imagine the worst - always. To me, the future is…”Krzysztof Kieslowski
READ THE SOURCE
Books by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale
1986
alias Grace
1997
The Year of the Flood
2010
The Blind Assassin
2011
The Penelopiad
2006