As darkness falls The walls grow luminous and warm, the walls Tremble and glow with the lives within them moving, Moving like music, secret and rich and warm. How shall we live tonight? Where shall we turn? To what new light or darkness yearn? A thousand winding stairs lead down before us; And one by one in myriads we descend By lamplit flowered walls, long balustrades, Through half-lit halls which reach no end.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Inside the building, life feels warm and mysterious, yet the path forward seems endless and uncertain.
- In plain terms
- The inside feels warm but the path ahead is endless.
- What can you take from it?
- Community life feels warm but direction is unclear.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where are you headed?
- Is the warmth worth the maze?
Another view
It assumes the internal state is always warm despite uncertainty.
More from Conrad Aiken
In one room, silently, lover looks upon lover, And thinks the air is fire.
Permalink to quote #52 The poet walked alone in a cold late rain, And thought his grief was like the crying of sea-birds; For his lover was dead, he never would love again.
Permalink to quote #54 The young boy whistles, hurrying down the street, The young girl hums beneath her breath. One goes out to beauty, and does not know it. And one goes out to dea…
Permalink to quote #51
Related quotes
I want everybody really lost, and I want us all to be at home there.
Bruce BaillieBruce Baillie quote #1 Caballito negro. ?Donde llevas tu jinete muerto?
Federico Garcia LorcaFederico Garcia Lorca quote #1 To leave the open fields and enter the forest, that was the rite. Knowing there was mystery, they could go. Go back now! And he receded among the multitude of …
Denise LevertovDenise Levertov quote #1