Women know the way to rear up children (to be just). They know a simple, merry, tender knack of tying sashes, fitting baby-shoes, and stringing pretty words that make no sense. And kissing full sense into empty words.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
Enough! we're tired, my heart and I. We sit beside the headstone thus, And wish that name were carved for us. The moss reprints more tenderly The hard types of the mason's knife, As Heaven's sweet life renews earth's life With which we're tired, my heart and I .... In this abundant earth no doubt Is little room for things worn out: Disdain them, break them, throw them by! And if before the days grew rough We once were loved, used, - well enough, I think, we've fared, my heart and I.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a sense of weariness toward life and the idea of letting go of the past to embrace renewal.
In this poignant quote, Elizabeth Barrett Browning expresses the exhaustion felt by both her heart and herself, as they confront the inevitability of death and the old memories associated with it. The imagery of a headstone suggests a contemplation of mortality, while the speaker wishes for a more tender acknowledgment of life's transient beauty. Ultimately, the quote encourages a rejection of the worn-out and a celebration of new beginnings, suggesting that love and memories, though they may be cherished, should not hold one back from embracing change and renewal in life.
Themes
LifeRenewalLoveMemoriesChangeLetting Go
In practice
Example use cases
During a memorial service, sharing this quote can emphasize the importance of cherishing memories while also embracing new beginnings.
More from Elizabeth Barrett Browning
All quotes →She has seen the mystery hid Under Egypt's pyramid: By those eyelids pale and close Now she knows what Rhamses knows.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
First time he kissed me, he but only kissed The fingers of this hand wherewith I write; And, ever since, it grew more clean and white.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
Our Euripides the human, With his droppings of warm tears, and his touchings of things common Till they rose to meet the spheres.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
Love me sweet With all thou art Feeling, thinking, seeing; Love me in the Lightest part, Love me in full Being.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
Similar quotes
They'll be days like this" my momma said. _x000D_ When you open your hands to catch, and wind up with only blisters and bruises. _x000D_ When you try to step out of the phone booth and try to fly , and the very people you want to save, are the ones standing on your cape. _x000D_ When your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees with disappointment _x000D_ And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say "Thank you".
Sarah KayRead
It may sound funny, but I love the South. I don't choose to live anywhere else. There's land here, where a man can raise cattle, and I'm going to do it some day. There are lakes where a man can sink a hook and fight the bass. There is room here for my children to play and grow, and become good citizens-if the white man will let them.
Medgar EversRead
I walked in the meadows of green grieving for my life.
Ivan TurgenevRead
One ship drives east and another drives west With the selfsame winds that blow. Tis the set of the sails And not the gales Which tells us the way to go. Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate, As we voyage along through the life: Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal, And not the calm or the strife.
Ella Wheeler WilcoxRead
Each of us is leading a difficult life, and when we meet people we are seeing only a tiny part of the thinnest veneer of their complex, troubled existences. To practise anything other than kindness towards them, to treat them in any way save generously, is to quietly deny their humanity.
Derren BrownRead
The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.
Frank Lloyd WrightRead