# Sometimes, the \[what?\] is too much - poetry reference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [January 30, 2024, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856 "2024-01-30T05:23:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/1 "2024-01-30T05:23:49Z")
I’m annoyed, because my slightly inebriated, emotional self is trying to recall some poetic line that said, more or less, that “sometimes, the … mumble can’t remember … is too much.” Who and what was that? Walt Whitman? TS Elliot? Denise Levertov? Dylan Thomas? James Dickey (probably not the last one, but I’m trying to think of poets I’ve probably read that might have said something like that.) Langston Hughes? Apparently, sometimes the wine is too much. I really want to remember that line, and I can’t. Help me. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/2 "2024-01-30T05:32:16Z")
Not Whitman, nor Elliot, but maybe Dan Hill? “And sometimes when we touch The honesty’s too much” > **[Dan Hill - Sometimes When We Touch Lyrics | Lyrics.com](https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/62238/Dan+Hill/Sometimes+When+We+Touch)** > > Sometimes When We Touch Lyrics by Dan Hill from the The Best of Dan Hill album- including song video, artist biography, translations and more: You ask me if I love you > And I choke on my reply > I'd rather hurt you honestly > Than mislead you with a... ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/3 "2024-01-30T05:48:06Z")
> [@moes\_lotion](#): > > Not Whitman, nor Elliot, but maybe Dan Hill? > > “And sometimes when we touch > The honesty’s too much” I’m pretty sure Dan was quoting _Romeo & Juliet_. > Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow. Sometimes when we touch, the honesty’s too much. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/4 "2024-01-30T06:06:13Z")
> [@moes\_lotion](#): > > “And sometimes when we touch > The honesty’s too much” Nope, although I thank you for the attempt. This was a poem, not song lyrics. Don’t get me wrong - both are legitimate forms of artistic expression. But poetry is different. This was a poem, not a song. (Also, I’m pretty sure it was the sun that was too much, though I’m not 100% sure,) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/5 "2024-01-30T06:32:10Z")
Any chance this? > **[The World Is Too Much with Us](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Is_Too_Much_with_Us)** > > The world is too much with us; late and soon, > Getting and spending we lay waste our powers; > Little we see in Nature that is ours; > We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! > This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, > The winds that will be howling at all hours, > And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, > For this, for everything, we are out of tune; > It moves us not. —Great God! I'd rather be > A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; > So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, > Have glimpses that... ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/6 "2024-01-30T06:47:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Any chance this? No, but Wordsworth is an excellent guess, so thank you for that. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/7 "2024-01-30T07:38:07Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m pretty sure Dan was quoting _Romeo & Juliet_. > > > Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow. Sometimes when we touch, the honesty’s too much. No no no. I think the line is: > Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. Someone left the cake out in the rain. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/8 "2024-01-30T15:12:02Z")
A few google results 1. The defense is too much for Mahomes! 2. Sanding the neck - How much is too much? 3. ANY oil in the intercooler is too much! Not real poetic, I know. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/9 "2024-01-30T16:27:43Z")
Thank you anyway, @Qadgop_the_Mercotan. I feel vaguely like it’s probably Dylan Thomas - either that or some poet too obscure to remember. I need to pull out my one book of his poems and see if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/10 "2024-01-30T17:17:55Z")
Not a great match, but it is Walt: # Sometimes with One I Love Walt Whitman Sometimes with one I love I fill myself with rage for fear I effuse unreturn’d love, But now I think there is no unreturn’d love, the pay is certain one way or another, (I loved a certain person ardently and my love was not return’d, Yet out of that I have written these songs.) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/11 "2024-01-30T17:20:18Z")
Well, Dylan Thomas did write: Sometimes the sky’s too bright, Or has too many clouds or birds, And far away’s too sharp a sun To nourish thinking of him. The rest here: [Sometimes The Skys Too Bright - A Poem by Dylan Thomas](https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/sometimes_the_skys_too_bright_7082) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-the-what-is-too-much-poetry-reference/996856/12 "2024-01-30T20:21:47Z")
That’s it! Thank you, Professor!