--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poor innocents! Hell has no power…" description: "\"“Poor innocents! Hell has no power overpagans. − And still this is life! Later, the delights of damnation will be all the greater. A crime, quick, so I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg" --- # Poor innocents! Hell has no power overpagans. − And still… ![“Poor innocents! Hell has no power overpagans. − And still this is life! Later, the delights of damnation will be all the greater. A crime, quick, so I can fall into nothingness, condemned by human laws. Shut up, will you shut up! . . . Shame and Reproach are here: Satan says the fire is…” quote by Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg) > ““Poor innocents! Hell has no power overpagans. − And still this is life! Later, the delights of damnation will be all the greater. A crime, quick, so I can fall into nothingness, condemned by human laws. Shut up, will you shut up! . . . Shame and Reproach are here: Satan says the fire is contemptible, my angerridiculous. − Enough! . . . Errors are whispered on their breath, spells, sickly perfumes, insipid music. − And to think that I hold truth in my hands, that I see justice: my judgement is sound and certain, I am ready forperfection . . . Pride. − The skin of my scalp is dry. Have pity! Lord, I am afraid. I am thirsty, so thirsty! Oh! childhood, the smell of grass, the sound of rain, water from the lake lapping on pebbles, the moonlight when theclock strikes twelve . . . that’s when the devil is in thetower. Mary! Holy Virgin! . . . − The horror of my stupidity. Aren’t there any honest souls who wish me well down there? . . .”” [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet wrestles with existential dread, moral ambiguity, and yearning for redemption amid chaotic thoughts. **In simple terms:** A tormented soul seeks meaning, confronting sin, fear, and fleeting memories. Key Takeaway Seek clarity and peace amid inner turmoil. Themes existentialism spirituality psychology Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy - philosophical reflection Key Concepts sin redemption memory Questions to Reflect On - What does the poet fear most? - How can one find grounding in such turmoil? A Different Perspective The dense, fragmented style may obscure meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delights Damnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delights-damnation-4965650/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Innocents Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocents-hell-4965649/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Pity Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity-lord-3595692/) [Rain water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain-water/) [Satan Says](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satan-says-1943846/) [Sound of rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound-of-rain/) ## Related quotes > [Have pity, Lord, on those who love and are separated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/have-pity-lord-on-those-who-love-and-are-separated/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [They never learn. Such a pity. -Lord Voldemort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-never-learn-such-a-pity-lord-voldemort/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Just remember what Satan says: "I teach men what I learn from women!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanan-al-shaykh/just-remember-what-satan-says-i-teach-men-what-i-learn-from-women/) [Hanan Al-Shaykh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanan-al-shaykh/) > [Fear is born of Satan, and if we would only take time to think a moment we would see that everything Satan says is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-simpson/fear-is-born-of-satan-and-if-we-would-only-take-time-to-think-a/) [A. B. Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-simpson/) > [“The Silence took your friend." Nobody says What’s the Silence? Satan Says, "It is a creature that came out of the walm. Large as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlton-mellick-iii/the-silence-took-your-friend-nobody-says-what-s-the-silence-satan/) [Carlton Mellick III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlton-mellick-iii/) > [The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. So much depends upom a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-red-wheelbarrow-by-william-carlos-williams-so-much-depends-upom-a/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Let the rain sing you a lullaby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/let-the-rain-sing-you-a-lullaby/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [Take rainwater kept for several years, and mix a sextarius of this water with a pound of honey The whole is exposed to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/columella/take-rainwater-kept-for-several-years-and-mix-a-sextarius-of-this/) [Columella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/columella/) > [“Down Here and up there are all the same to me. Whether I lie here in the gutter and stow away the rain water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/down-here-and-up-there-are-all-the-same-to-me-whether-i-lie-here-in/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“If one morning in the Spring, a stranger came and said to me, Your mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, lover, friend, is dead. From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-thi-diem-thuy/if-one-morning-in-the-spring-a-stranger-came-and-said-to-me-your/) [Lê Thi Diem Thúy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-thi-diem-thuy/) > [“You must stay focused, concentrating on the work at hand. Consistency makes the rain drops to create holes in the rock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-must-stay-focused-concentrating-on-the-work-at-hand-consistency/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [It's a Vietnamese soup that answers the question, 'What happens when a former child soldier pours hot rain water over fish nightmares.' It's delicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-kinane/it-s-a-vietnamese-soup-that-answers-the-question-what-happens-when-a/) [Kyle Kinane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-kinane/) > [“Please stop shaking your rain water in my direction. What next? Are you going to come over here, cock your leg and urinate upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-j-day/please-stop-shaking-your-rain-water-in-my-direction-what-next-are-you/) [Stephen J. Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-j-day/) > [But the people cannot have wells, and so they take rain-water. Neither can they conveniently have cellars or graves, the town being built upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-the-people-cannot-have-wells-and-so-they-take-rain-water-neither/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [In rain water, I observed a small red worm and two other kinds of very minute insects; of those of the larger size, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonie-van-leeuwenhoek/in-rain-water-i-observed-a-small-red-worm-and-two-other-kinds-of-very/) [Antonie van Leeuwenhoek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonie-van-leeuwenhoek/) ## More by Arthur Rimbaud > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“My turn now. The story of one of my insanities. For a long time I boasted that I was master of all possible landscapes--…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/my-turn-now-the-story-of-one-of-my-insanities-for-a-long-time-i/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Eternity. It is the sea mingled with the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/eternity-it-is-the-sea-mingled-with-the-sun/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“Delivered to oblivion...growing and flowering with incense and weeds to the sullen whine of nasty flies... I loved deserts, burnt out orchards, faded boutiques...I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/delivered-to-oblivion-growing-and-flowering-with-incense-and-weeds-to/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“I On the calm black water where the stars are sleeping White Ophelia floats like a great lily; Floats very slowly, lying in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-on-the-calm-black-water-where-the-stars-are-sleeping-white-ophelia/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [I went out under the sky, Muse! and I was your vassal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-went-out-under-the-sky-muse-and-i-was-your-vassal/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [But the problem is to make the soul into a monster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/but-the-problem-is-to-make-the-soul-into-a-monster/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Love...no such thing. Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together, that's not love. That's stupidity or selfishness or fear. Love doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/love-no-such-thing-whatever-it-is-that-binds-families-and-married/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Weakness or strength: you exist, that is strength. You don't know where you are going or why you are going, go in everywhere, answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/weakness-or-strength-you-exist-that-is-strength-you-don-t-know-where/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Oh! If only we were naked now, and free to watch our protruding parts align; To whisper - both of us - in ecstasy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/oh-if-only-we-were-naked-now-and-free-to-watch-our-protruding-parts/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [But, truly, I have wept too much! The Dawns are heartbreaking. Every moon is atrocious and every sun bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/but-truly-i-have-wept-too-much-the-dawns-are-heartbreaking-every-moon/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [What an old maid I'm getting to be. lacking the courage to be in love with death!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/what-an-old-maid-i-m-getting-to-be-lacking-the-courage-to-be-in-love/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies. - Farewell ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-shall-ask-forgiveness-for-having-fed-on-lies-farewell/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [And I am still alive-what though, my damnation is eternal. A man who deliberately mutilates himself is truly damned, is he not? I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/and-i-am-still-alive-what-though-my-damnation-is-eternal-a-man-who/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [. . . be absolute moderne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/be-absolute-moderne/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) [Explore all 148 Arthur Rimbaud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) ## More Hell quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. How could there be God in loneliness when God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/hell-is-only-loneliness-a-place-without-play-for-the-soul-a-place/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [Just when I thought that I was gtting better, boy was I wrong.. Things just turned to hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cupecake/just-when-i-thought-that-i-was-gtting-better-boy-was-i-wrong-things/) [Cupecake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cupecake/) > [I believe that on any trip to heaven, there are always detours through hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-finney/i-believe-that-on-any-trip-to-heaven-there-are-always-detours-through/) [Richard Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-finney/) > [Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-platt/every-saved-person-this-side-of-heaven-owes-the-gospel-to-every-lost/) [David Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-platt/) > [I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/i-m-what-is-known-as-gradually-disintegrating-i-don-t-fear-the-next/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [Hey...Hey...What's up?. Nothing much, you? Nothing. K!..What the hell was the point of this communication?...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hey-hey-what-s-up-nothing-much-you-nothing-k-what-the-hell-was-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Except in these latter-day songs, \[Bob\] Dylan is a grizzled old prophet who's already been to hell and back. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/except-in-these-latter-day-songs-bob-dylan-is-a-grizzled-old-prophet/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/alas-if-all-humans-were-wise-and-had-more-good-will-the-world-would/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [It is through suppression that hells are formed in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/it-is-through-suppression-that-hells-are-formed-in-us/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) [Browse all 8,212 Hell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Poor innocents! Hell has no power overpagans. − And still this is life! Later, the delights of damnation will be all the greater. A crime, quick, so I can fall into nothingness, condemned by human laws. Shut up, will you shut up! . . . Shame and Reproach are here: Satan says the fire is contemptible, my angerridiculous. − Enough! . . . Errors are whispered on their breath, spells, sickly perfumes, insipid music. − And to think that I hold truth in my hands, that I see justice: my judgement is sound and certain, I am ready forperfection . . . Pride. − The skin of my scalp is dry. Have pity! Lord, I am afraid. I am thirsty, so thirsty! Oh! childhood, the smell of grass, the sound of rain, water from the lake lapping on pebbles, the moonlight when theclock strikes twelve . . . that’s when the devil is in thetower. Mary! Holy Virgin! . . . − The horror of my stupidity. Aren’t there any honest souls who wish me well down there? . . .”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Rimbaud" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpagans-and-still-this-is-life/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hell" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpagans-and-still-this-is-life/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/arthur-rimbaud-2266_life_poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpag_611605.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poor innocents! Hell has no power overpagans. − And still this is life! Later, the delights of damnation…” — Arthur Rimbaud", "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": "Arthur Rimbaud", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Poor innocents! Hell has no power...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpagans-and-still-this-is-life/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/poor-innocents-hell-has-no-power-overpagans-and-still-this-is-life/#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 } } ] } ```