We say God and the imagination are one... How high that highest candle lights the dark. Out of this same light, out of the central mind, We make a dwelling in the evening air, In which being there together is enough.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The passage equates God and imagination, suggesting a shared light that makes shared presence sufficient.
- In plain terms
- God and imagination are linked as a shared light that fulfills us.
- What can you take from it?
- Find comfort in the shared illumination of belief and imagination.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does imagination serve as a guiding light?
- Can belief and imagination coexist without conflict?
Another view
The metaphor may not resonate with non‑spiritual readers.
More from Wallace Stevens
This is, therefore, the intensest rendezvous. It is in that thought that we collect ourselves, Out of all the indifferences, into one thing
Permalink to quote #200 After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
Permalink to quote #202 Light the first light of evening, as in a room In which we rest and, for small reason, think The world imagined is the ultimate good.
Permalink to quote #199
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