--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We don't know how to say goodbye, We…" description: "\"“We don't know how to say goodbye, We wander on, shoulder to shoulder Already the sun is going down You're moody, and I am your shadow. Let's step insi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/anna-akhmatova-3933_poem_we-don-t-know-how-to-say-goodbye-we-wand_2066080.jpg" --- # We don't know how to say goodbye, We wander on, shoulder… ![“We don't know how to say goodbye, We wander on, shoulder to shoulder Already the sun is going down You're moody, and I am your shadow. Let's step inside a church, hear prayers, masses for the dead Why are we so different from the rest? Outside in the graveyard we sit on a frozen branch. That stick…” quote by Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/anna-akhmatova-3933_poem_we-don-t-know-how-to-say-goodbye-we-wand_2066080.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/anna-akhmatova-3933_poem_we-don-t-know-how-to-say-goodbye-we-wand_2066080.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/anna-akhmatova-3933_poem_we-don-t-know-how-to-say-goodbye-we-wand_2066080.jpg) > ““We don't know how to say goodbye, We wander on, shoulder to shoulder Already the sun is going down You're moody, and I am your shadow. Let's step inside a church, hear prayers, masses for the dead Why are we so different from the rest? Outside in the graveyard we sit on a frozen branch. That stick in your hand is tracing Mansions in the snow in which we will always be together.”” [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem reflects on mortality, companionship, and the longing for connection amid darkness. **In simple terms:** Love and death intertwine in shared moments. Key Takeaway Cherish shared time. Themes mortality companionship longing Mood somber poetic Type literary emotional When to use this quote - relationships - grief - nighttime reflections Key Concepts existentialism poetry spirituality Questions to Reflect On - What does companionship mean in facing death? - How do rituals help cope with loss? 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Why draw me to that promised land again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-zhukovsky/to-a-familiar-genius-flying-by-reveal-yourself-anonymous-enchanter/) [Vasily Zhukovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-zhukovsky/) > [“After a night of insomnia the body gets weaker, Becomes dear but no one’s — not even your own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-tsvetaeva/after-a-night-of-insomnia-the-body-gets-weaker-becomes-dear-but-no/) [Marina Tsvetaeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-tsvetaeva/) > [“I hope for a light grief in old age. I was born in Rome and it has returned to me. My autumn was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-hope-for-a-light-grief-in-old-age-i-was-born-in-rome-and-it-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Mysterious Visitor Spirit, lovely guest, who are you? Whence have you flown down to us? Taciturn and without a sound Why have you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-zhukovsky/the-mysterious-visitor-spirit-lovely-guest-who-are-you-whence-have/) [Vasily Zhukovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-zhukovsky/) > [ He \[the Lord\] will always hear your prayers and will invariably answer them. However, His answers will seldom come while you are on your… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/he-the-lord-will-always-hear-your-prayers-and-will-invariably-answer/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [God cannot hear the prayers on our lips often because the desires of our heart after the world cry out to Him much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-murray/god-cannot-hear-the-prayers-on-our-lips-often-because-the-desires-of/) [Andrew Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-murray/) > [ Will not the Lord hear my prayers and listen to my cries as soon as he ever did to theirs \[the ancient saints'\] if… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-smith-jr/will-not-the-lord-hear-my-prayers-and-listen-to-my-cries-as-soon-as/) [Joseph Smith, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-smith-jr/) ## More by Anna Akhmatova > [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Song falls silent, music is dumb, But the air burns with their fragrance, And white winter, on its knees, Observes everything with reverent attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/song-falls-silent-music-is-dumb-but-the-air-burns-with-their/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“That is why we love this city – Dark and stern, and full of water, And we love our separations, And brief moments when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/that-is-why-we-love-this-city-dark-and-stern-and-full-of-water-and-we/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Give me bitter years of sickness, Suffocation, insomnia, fever, Take my child and my lover, And my mysterious gift of song This I pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/give-me-bitter-years-of-sickness-suffocation-insomnia-fever-take-my/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Sweet to me was not the voice of man, But the wind's voice was understood by me. The burdocks and the nettles fed my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/sweet-to-me-was-not-the-voice-of-man-but-the-wind-s-voice-was/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [We learned not to meet anymore, We don't raise our eyes to one another, But we ourselves won't guarantee What could happen to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/we-learned-not-to-meet-anymore-we-don-t-raise-our-eyes-to-one-another/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“ In Dream Black and enduring separation I share equally with you. Why weep? Gove me your hand, promise me you will come again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/in-dream-black-and-enduring-separation-i-share-equally-with-you-why/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“But don’t raise your eyes in defiance, Protect my life, my dear. They’re brighter than first violets, But deadly to me, I fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/but-don-t-raise-your-eyes-in-defiance-protect-my-life-my-dear-they-re/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Forgive me, that I manage badly, Manage badly but live gloriously, That I leave traces of myself in my songs, That I appeared to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/forgive-me-that-i-manage-badly-manage-badly-but-live-gloriously-that/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Rising from the past, my shadow Is running in silence to meet me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/rising-from-the-past-my-shadow-is-running-in-silence-to-meet-me/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [We aged a hundred years, and this happened in a single hour: the short summer had already died, the body of the ploughed plains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/we-aged-a-hundred-years-and-this-happened-in-a-single-hour-the-short/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [It was a time when only the dead smiled, happy in their peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/it-was-a-time-when-only-the-dead-smiled-happy-in-their-peace/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [But here, in the murk of conflagration, where scarcely a friend is left to know we, the survivors, do not flinch from anything, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/but-here-in-the-murk-of-conflagration-where-scarcely-a-friend-is-left/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“Let my heiress have full rights, Live in my house, sing songs that I composed. Yet how slowly my strength ebbs, How the tortured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/let-my-heiress-have-full-rights-live-in-my-house-sing-songs-that-i/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [You do not know just what you've been forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/you-do-not-know-just-what-you-ve-been-forgiven/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) [Explore all 118 Anna Akhmatova quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) ## More Graveyard quotes > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Cheshvan starts tonight," Rixon said, "What are you doing arsing around in a graveyard?" 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Out in the depths of space the great celestial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-robert-harrison/the-stars-begin-to-fade-like-guttering-candles-and-are-snuffed-out/) [Edward Robert Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-robert-harrison/) > [They say 'life is precious'. To who? To you, when you're young and you've got a few dollars in your pocket. Tell that to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-stanhope/they-say-life-is-precious-to-who-to-you-when-you-re-young-and-you-ve/) [Doug Stanhope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-stanhope/) > [You can’t bring an unwritten place to life without losing something substantial. Manila is the cradle, the graveyard, the memory. 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