Life & Wisdom Quote by Mark Strand

Strand takes a machete to the romantic myth of the “expressive self,” treating it less like a muse and more like a houseguest who won’t leave. The jab lands because it’s not aimed at art’s enemies but at the artist’s own favorite alibi: expression as authenticity. By calling that part of himself “tedious,” he suggests that unchecked self-expression is repetitive by nature, a loop of familiar grievances and recycled poses. It’s the opposite of what we like to believe about creativity, which we market as spontaneity and revelation.

The real sting is in the ethical language he sneaks in. “Never curious or responsive” frames expression as a failure of attention. Curiosity implies outwardness, a willingness to be altered by the world; responsiveness implies listening, exchange, friction. Strand’s “expressive part” does none of that. It’s “blind,” meaning it doesn’t see others clearly, and “self-serving,” meaning it uses experience as raw material for the ego’s narrative. That’s a harsh diagnosis, but also a useful one: it defines artistic maturity not as louder selfhood but as better perception.

Contextually, this tracks with Strand’s cool, spare poetic persona and his interest in absence, anonymity, and the limits of the speaking “I.” Many poets lean on confession as proof of seriousness; Strand distrusts that instinct. The subtext is a craft note disguised as self-critique: the poem gets interesting when expression stops being a mirror and becomes a lens.