Famous quote by W. Somerset Maugham

Mobile Desktop
The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes
Like

"The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes"

- W. Somerset Maugham

About this Quote

This quote by W. Somerset Maugham recommends that the power and impact of verse goes beyond that of prose. It implies that when a poet goes to work, the writer of prose should take a backseat as well as permit the poet to take spotlight.

Maugham highlights the superiority of verse and its capacity to evoke emotions, boost ideas as well as record the essence of a minute or a feeling. He acknowledges that prose has its very own special top qualities and also toughness however thinks that it can not fairly match the deepness as well as intensity of poetic expression.

Overall, the quote highlights the respect and also appreciation that Maugham had for poetry and also its capability to relocate people in ways that prose can not.

About the Author

W. Somerset Maugham This quote is written / told by W. Somerset Maugham between January 25, 1874 and December 16, 1965. He was a famous Playwright from United Kingdom. The author also have 69 other quotes.

Go to author profile

Similar Quotes

Small: Yet, it is true, poetry is delicious the best prose is that which is most full of poetry - Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
"Yet, it is true, poetry is delicious; the best prose is that which is most full of poetry"
Virginia Woolf, Author
Small: Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an architectonic one when it is built
"Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an architectonic one when it is built, and a textile one when it is woven"
Walter Benjamin, Critic
Small: Poetry has done enough when it charms, but prose must also convince - H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
"Poetry has done enough when it charms, but prose must also convince"
H. L. Mencken, Writer
Small: One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose - Voltaire
Voltaire
"One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose"
Voltaire, Writer
Small: There is something about poetry beyond prose logic, there is mystery in it, not to be explained but admired -
Edward Young
"There is something about poetry beyond prose logic, there is mystery in it, not to be explained but admired"
Edward Young, Poet
Small: The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry - David Har
"The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry"
David Hare, Playwright
Small: The poet gives us his essence, but prose takes the mold of the body and mind - Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
"The poet gives us his essence, but prose takes the mold of the body and mind"
Virginia Woolf, Author
Small: I want the concentration and the romance, and the worlds all glued together, fused, glowing: have no time to w
Virginia Woolf
"I want the concentration and the romance, and the worlds all glued together, fused, glowing: have no time to waste any more on prose"
Virginia Woolf, Author
Small: The atmosphere of orthodoxy is always damaging to prose, and above all it is completely ruinous to the novel,
George Orwell
"The atmosphere of orthodoxy is always damaging to prose, and above all it is completely ruinous to the novel, the most anarchical of all forms of literature"
George Orwell, Author
Small: I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry that is, prose words in
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose = words in their best order; - poetry = the best words in the best order"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Poet