Comes again the longing, the desire that has no name. Is…
““Comes again the longing, the desire that has no name. Is it for Mrs. Prouty, for a drink, for both: for a party, for youth, for the good times, for dear good drinking and fighting comrades, for football-game girls in the fall with faces like flowers? Comes the longing and it has to do with being fifteen and fifty and with the winter sun striking down into a brick-yard and on clapboard walls rounded off with old hard blistered paint and across a doorsill onto linoleum. Desire has a smell: of cold linoleum and gas heat and the sour piebald bark of crepe myrtle. A good-humored thirty-five-year-old lady takes the air in a back lot in a small town.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The passage evokes yearning and nostalgia, linking desire to places, ages, and sensory memories.
In simple terms: Longing ties to memories and sensory details.
Key Takeaway
Embrace nostalgia while staying present.
Themes
nostalgia
desire
memory
Mood
melancholic
contemplative
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- midlife reflection
- college reminiscing
- creative writing
- urban exploration
Key Concepts
existential longing
sensory imagery
Questions to Reflect On
- What does this longing reveal about self?
- How can we balance memory and growth?
A Different Perspective
Nostalgia may hinder forward action.