Carved out

[sdpegasus]

I am carved out to write poems and I must do it.

Can I use the phrase carved out to mean that God has endowed me with the quality to write poem.

 

[5jj]

No

 

[SoothingDave]

You can say you were made (or born) to write poems.

 

[Rover_KE]

You can say you were born with the gift of writing poetry.

(Be careful who you boast about this to. There are some some pretty hard-boiled literary critics out there.)

 

[BobK]

:up: Or you can come right out and say 'I was born to write poetry, or 'I was born a poet', or even 'I am a born poet'.

A common cliché is '... is in my DNA'; personally I think this is lamentable [to put it politely!], but it does happen.

An example of carved out:

In the years that followed he carved out for himself a niche in the area of 17th-century English furniture.

b

 

[Raymott]

No

Um, why? (apart from the obvious). But I've occasionally read such lines as "He was carved out for a medical career." Naturally it's a metaphor.

 

[5jj]

Um, why? (apart from the obvious).

The obvious struck me. "I am carved out to write poems and I must do it" just does not work.

But I've occasionally read such lines as "He was carved out for a medical career." Naturally it's a metaphor.

I can just about imagine that being said. I can't imagine it as a first person utterance.

 

[Grumpy]

I agree with 5jj, but I have heard the expression "I was cut out to be a pilot/brain surgeon/gangster etc etc"

 

[5jj]

I have heard the expression "I was cut out to be a pilot/brain surgeon/gangster etc etc"

That sounds far more natural to me.