Two things of opposite natures seem to depend On one another, as a man depends On a woman, day on night, the imagined On the real. This is the origin of change. Winter and spring, cold copulars, embrace And forth the particulars of rapture come.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Opposites like day/night or real/imagined rely on each other, and their interaction drives change.
- In plain terms
- Opposites need each other, and this mix creates change.
- What can you take from it?
- Change arises from the tension of opposites.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What opposites do you depend on?
- Is conflict necessary for growth?
Another view
Sometimes things exist independently without needing opposites.
More from Wallace Stevens
Nothing had happened because nothing had changed. Yet the General was rubbish in the end.
Permalink to quote #128 Music falls on the silence like a sense, A passion that we feel, not understand.
Permalink to quote #130 The right, uplifted foreleg of the horse Suggested that, at the final funeral, The music halted and the horse stood still.
Permalink to quote #127
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