---
title: "And lo! the universal air Seemed lit with ghastly flame; Ten thousand… — Thomas Hood Quote #20 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "And lo! the universal air Seemed lit with ghastly flame; Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes Were looking down in blame — a quote by Thomas Hood."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # And lo! the universal air Seemed lit with ghastly flame; Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes Were looking down in blame

[Thomas Hood](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Hood)\#20

[Nature](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Hood/nature/)[Disaster](https://quotesby.net/topics/disaster/)[Judgment](https://quotesby.net/topics/judgment/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?The sky seems lit by a terrible fire while countless eyes judge from above.In plain termsThe air is filled with judgment and disaster.What can you take from it?Disaster draws collective blame.

### Where it applies

- tragedy
- public reaction
- fire

### Putting it to work

- consider public response to disaster
- reflect on judgment

### Questions to consider

- Who judges the guilty?
- Does nature reflect mood?

### Another view

The metaphor is abstract and open to interpretation.

## More from Thomas Hood

1. > 'Twas in the prime of summer-time An evening calm and cool, And four-and-twenty happy boys Came bounding out of school: There were some that ran and some that …

[Permalink to quote \#19](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Hood/19/ "Permalink to quote 19")
2. > My head was like an ardent coal, My heart as solid ice; My wretched, wretched soul, I knew, Was at the Devil's price: A dozen times I groaned: the dead Had nev…

[Permalink to quote \#21](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Hood/21/ "Permalink to quote 21")
3. > Oh, God! that bread should be so dear, And flesh and blood so cheap!

[Permalink to quote \#18](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Hood/18/ "Permalink to quote 18")

## Related quotes

1. > Certes, c'est un subject merveilleusement vain, divers, et ondoyant, que l'homme. Il est malaise d'y fonder jugement constant et uniforme.

[Michel de Montaigne](https://quotesby.net/Michel-de-Montaigne)[Michel de Montaigne quote \#3](https://quotesby.net/Michel-de-Montaigne/3/ "Permalink to quote 3")
2. > However deep you dig a well it affords no refuge in the time of flood.

[Ernest Bramah](https://quotesby.net/Ernest-Bramah)[Ernest Bramah quote \#17](https://quotesby.net/Ernest-Bramah/17/ "Permalink to quote 17")
3. > Blizzards, floods, volcanos, hurricanes, earthquakes: They fascinate because they nakedly reveal that Mother Nature, afflicted with bipolar disorder, is as lik…

[Dean R. Koontz](https://quotesby.net/Dean-R.-Koontz)[Dean R. Koontz quote \#33](https://quotesby.net/Dean-R.-Koontz/33/ "Permalink to quote 33")

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