All I wanted to do was get back to Africa. We had not left…
““All I wanted to do was get back to Africa. We had not left it, yet, but when I would wake in the night I would lie, listening, homesick for it already. Now, looking out the tunnel of trees over the ravine at the sky with white clouds moving across in the wind, I loved the country so that I was happy as you are after you have been with a woman that you really love, when, empty, you feel it welling up again and there it is and you can never have it all and yet what there is, now, you can have, and you want more and more, to have, and be, and live in, to possess now again for always, for that long sudden-ended always; making time stand still, sometimes so very still that afterwards you wait to hear it move, and it is slow in starting. But you are not alone because if you have every really loved her happy and untragic, she loves you always; no matter whom she loves nor where she goes she loves you more.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
A yearning for a lost homeland blends with deep love, creating an endless ache for belonging and connection.
In simple terms: Longing for home and love intertwine.
Key Takeaway
Embrace the present while honoring past longing.
Themes
longing
love
belonging
memory
time
existence
Mood
melancholic
reflective
hopeful
Type
literary
philosophical
emotional
When to use this quote
- migration
- romantic relationships
- personal reflection
- creative writing
Key Concepts
nostalgia
romantic idealism
impermanence
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance nostalgia with present fulfillment?
- What does “always” mean in love?
A Different Perspective
The intensity of longing can cloud present joy.