--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But everywhere dark shapes were already…" description: "\"“But everywhere dark shapes were already melting into the night, seeking asylum in the undergrowth and the jungle. Those not caught in the first haul h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg" --- # But everywhere dark shapes were already melting into the… ![“But everywhere dark shapes were already melting into the night, seeking asylum in the undergrowth and the jungle. Those not caught in the first haul headed for the mountains, stealing canoes and boats to make their way upstream; they were unarmed, almost naked, but determined to return to the way…” quote by Alejo Carpentier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg) > ““But everywhere dark shapes were already melting into the night, seeking asylum in the undergrowth and the jungle. Those not caught in the first haul headed for the mountains, stealing canoes and boats to make their way upstream; they were unarmed, almost naked, but determined to return to the way of life of their ancestors, somewhere the whites would not be able reach them. As they passed the outlying plantations, they spread the news amongst their own people, and ten, twenty, more men would abandon their work, deserting the fields of indigo and clover, to swell the numbers of the runaways. And in parties of one hundred, two hundred at a time, followed by their wives carrying children, they moved off into the interior, through thickets and crags, in search of a place they could build a palisade. As they fled they scattered mullein seeds in the streams and rivulets, so that fish would be poisoned and infect the water with their miasma as they putrefied. Beyond this torrent, beyond that mountain clothed in waterfalls, Africa would begin again; they would go back to forgotten tongues, to the rites of circumcision, to the worship of the earlier gods, who had preceded the recent gods of Christianity. The undergrowth closed behind men who were retracing the course of history, to regain an age when Creation had been ruled by the fertile Venus, with her huge breasts and her ample belly, who was worshipped in deep caves where a hand was haltingly tracing its first configurations of the activities of the chase, and of ceremonies dedicated to the stars.”” [Alejo Carpentier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejo-carpentier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Escaped slaves flee oppression, seeking ancestral lands and cultural renewal, using sabotage to hinder pursuers. **In simple terms:** Runaway slaves flee, rebuild, and resist colonizers. Key Takeaway Preserve heritage, resist oppression. Themes freedom resistance culture identity colonialism Mood defiant reflective Type historical literary When to use this quote - Historical rebellion - cultural preservation - environmental tactics Key Concepts Diaspora reclamation environmental sabotage Questions to Reflect On - How can displaced peoples reclaim identity? - What risks arise from sabotage? A Different Perspective Colonial forces may still dominate; survival is precarious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asylum Undergrowth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asylum-undergrowth-4159591/) [Christianity Undergrowth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity-undergrowth-4159590/) [Fled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fled/) [Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeking/) [Stealing Canoes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stealing-canoes-4159592/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [The primary cause of disorder in ourselves is the seeking of reality promised by another... It is a most extraordinary thing that although most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/the-primary-cause-of-disorder-in-ourselves-is-the-seeking-of-reality/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Fancy the happiness of Pinocchio on finding himself free! Without saying yes or no, he fled from the city and set out on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-collodi/fancy-the-happiness-of-pinocchio-on-finding-himself-free-without/) [Carlo Collodi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-collodi/) > [“Survive long enough and you get to a far point in life where nothing else of particular interest is going to happen. After that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-frazier/survive-long-enough-and-you-get-to-a-far-point-in-life-where-nothing/) [Charles Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-frazier/) > [I saw and heard of none like me. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/i-saw-and-heard-of-none-like-me-was-i-then-a-monster-a-blot-upon-the/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [“Phantoms of thought and memory thinned and fled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/phantoms-of-thought-and-memory-thinned-and-fled/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [Noon, ripe as thunder and silent as thought, had fled unfingered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/noon-ripe-as-thunder-and-silent-as-thought-had-fled-unfingered/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“As a refugee who fled civil war as a child, I am still trying to figure out where I fit in - which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilhan-omar/as-a-refugee-who-fled-civil-war-as-a-child-i-am-still-trying-to/) [Ilhan Omar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilhan-omar/) > [“A kid ran into the darkness. His clothing was on fire; the flames streamed behind him as he fled screaming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grant/a-kid-ran-into-the-darkness-his-clothing-was-on-fire-the-flames/) [Michael Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-grant/) > [“Do you see? The story I have to tell is so small, of the people who stayed when everyone else fled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-francis-slattery/do-you-see-the-story-i-have-to-tell-is-so-small-of-the-people-who/) [Brian Francis Slattery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-francis-slattery/) > [As she fled fast through sun and shade The happy winds upon her play'd, Blowing the ringlet from the braid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/as-she-fled-fast-through-sun-and-shade-the-happy-winds-upon-her-play/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [ \[...\]women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/women-much-like-this-prostitute-fled-toward-jesus-not-away-from-him/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [“The winds of wrath came driving him, and blindly in the foam he fled from west to east, and errandless, unheralded he homeward sped.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/the-winds-of-wrath-came-driving-him-and-blindly-in-the-foam-he-fled/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“He ran toward the light. When he passed the corpse of his dead friend, he began to weep again. He picked up his sword.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-john-harrison/he-ran-toward-the-light-when-he-passed-the-corpse-of-his-dead-friend/) [M. John Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-john-harrison/) > [I am like the she-wolf / I broke with the pack / I fled to the mountains / Growing tired of the flatlands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfonsina-storni/i-am-like-the-she-wolf-i-broke-with-the-pack-i-fled-to-the-mountains/) [Alfonsina Storni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfonsina-storni/) > [“Good manners are the last thing to desert us, so it seems. They remain behind to mock us with their hollow sound when all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/good-manners-are-the-last-thing-to-desert-us-so-it-seems-they-remain/) [Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/) ## More by Alejo Carpentier > [“The thunder traveled over the ship, from west to east, with prolonged reverberations, before it moved away with its clouds, leaving the sea, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/the-thunder-traveled-over-the-ship-from-west-to-east-with-prolonged/) [Alejo Carpentier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejo-carpentier/) > [The truth was much more beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/the-truth-was-much-more-beautiful/) [Alejo Carpentier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejo-carpentier/) > [“How hard it is to become a man again when one has ceased to be a man." -The Lost Steps”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/how-hard-it-is-to-become-a-man-again-when-one-has-ceased-to-be-a-man/) [Alejo Carpentier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejo-carpentier/) > [I gladly accepted the commission but was uncertain about what the end result would be. 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Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [I would call myself a Gnostic. Which means, I'm interested in pursuing and understanding the spiritual nature of things. A Gnostic is somebody seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-crumb/i-would-call-myself-a-gnostic-which-means-i-m-interested-in-pursuing/) [Robert Crumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-crumb/) > [Every one is weary, the poore in seeking, the rich in keeping, the good in learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/every-one-is-weary-the-poore-in-seeking-the-rich-in-keeping-the-good/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seeking-means-to-have-a-goal-but-finding-means-to-be-free-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The things in my songs are the edited highlights of my life. I don't go seeking out strange sexual experiences every day of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarvis-cocker/the-things-in-my-songs-are-the-edited-highlights-of-my-life-i-don-t/) [Jarvis Cocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarvis-cocker/) > [We need to remain a nation that doesn't just welcome but that celebrates legal immigrants who come here seeking to pursue the American Dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/we-need-to-remain-a-nation-that-doesn-t-just-welcome-but-that/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [I want to thank the Greek people publicly for their humanitarian response to the crisis of so many migrants and refugees seeking safety in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-want-to-thank-the-greek-people-publicly-for-their-humanitarian/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [When scientists are asked what they are working on, their response is seldom 'Finding the origin of the universe' or 'Seeking to cure cancer.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/when-scientists-are-asked-what-they-are-working-on-their-response-is/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [Listening is seeking synchronicity with the speaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-rost/listening-is-seeking-synchronicity-with-the-speaker/) [Michael Rost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-rost/) > [“Whatever you are seeking is also seeking you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-sharan/whatever-you-are-seeking-is-also-seeking-you/) [Shakti Sharan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-sharan/) > [A criminal trial is never about seeking justice for the victim. If it were, there could be only one verdict: guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/a-criminal-trial-is-never-about-seeking-justice-for-the-victim-if-it/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I am making amends and seeking forgiveness. My only hope is that some good can come out of my situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-blair/i-am-making-amends-and-seeking-forgiveness-my-only-hope-is-that-some/) [Jayson Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-blair/) > [The search for truth is a cooperative, unending endeavor. We can, and should, engage in it to the extent we can and encourage others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-search-for-truth-is-a-cooperative-unending-endeavor-we-can-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Browse all 2,031 Seeking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeking/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But everywhere dark shapes were already melting into the night, seeking asylum in the undergrowth and the jungle. Those not caught in the first haul headed for the mountains, stealing canoes and boats to make their way upstream; they were unarmed, almost naked, but determined to return to the way of life of their ancestors, somewhere the whites would not be able reach them. As they passed the outlying plantations, they spread the news amongst their own people, and ten, twenty, more men would abandon their work, deserting the fields of indigo and clover, to swell the numbers of the runaways. And in parties of one hundred, two hundred at a time, followed by their wives carrying children, they moved off into the interior, through thickets and crags, in search of a place they could build a palisade. As they fled they scattered mullein seeds in the streams and rivulets, so that fish would be poisoned and infect the water with their miasma as they putrefied. Beyond this torrent, beyond that mountain clothed in waterfalls, Africa would begin again; they would go back to forgotten tongues, to the rites of circumcision, to the worship of the earlier gods, who had preceded the recent gods of Christianity. The undergrowth closed behind men who were retracing the course of history, to regain an age when Creation had been ruled by the fertile Venus, with her huge breasts and her ample belly, who was worshipped in deep caves where a hand was haltingly tracing its first configurations of the activities of the chase, and of ceremonies dedicated to the stars.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alejo Carpentier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already-melting-into-the-night/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Seeking" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already-melting-into-the-night/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/alejo-carpentier-17375_seeking_but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already_1283966.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But everywhere dark shapes were already melting into the night, seeking asylum in the undergrowth and the…” — Alejo Carpentier", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alejo Carpentier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejo-carpentier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But everywhere dark shapes were already...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already-melting-into-the-night/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/but-everywhere-dark-shapes-were-already-melting-into-the-night/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```