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About this quote

What does it mean?
Physical response to emotional expression is compared to music being played on an instrument.
In plain terms
Her words made him feel like a harp being played.
What can you take from it?
Emotional connection can feel like a physical resonance.

Where it applies

  • romantic moments
  • artistic expression
  • emotional awareness

Putting it to work

  • listen actively
  • notice physical reactions

Questions to consider

  • How does music affect you physically?
  • When have you felt moved?

Another view

The metaphor relies on gendered dynamics that may not be universal.

More from James Joyce

  1. I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.

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  2. Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.

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  3. Every night as I gazed up at the window I said to myself softly the word paralysis. It had always sounded strangely in my ears, like the word gnomon in the Euc…

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