--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was only the cemetery itself…" description: "\"There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony wilderness of Victorian melancholy.\" — Audrey N..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg" --- # There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the… ![“There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony wilderness of Victorian melancholy.” quote by Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg) > “There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony wilderness of Victorian melancholy.” [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A cemetery under moonlight feels surreal, evoking Victorian-era sorrow and desolation. **In simple terms:** Moonlit cemetery feels eerie and sad. Key Takeaway Notice how setting shapes mood. Themes melancholy setting surrealism Mood somber reflective Type descriptive literary When to use this quote - creative writing - photography - film noir Key Concepts Victorian era hallucination landscape Questions to Reflect On - How does atmosphere affect emotion? - What memories does this scene trigger? A Different Perspective The description may romanticize death. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cemetery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery/) [Cemetery Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery-spread-1978888/) [Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grey/) [Hallucinations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucinations/) [Melancholy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/melancholy/) [Moonlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moonlight/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [Victorian Melancholy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victorian-melancholy-1978887/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [Wilderness Victorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness-victorian-1978889/) ## Related quotes > [“It waited for her. Standing resolute in the moonlight, it had stood for a hundred years. Yet it waited just for her. Shadows passed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-willows/it-waited-for-her-standing-resolute-in-the-moonlight-it-had-stood-for/) [Grace Willows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-willows/) > [Pick up any history book, and I suggest you begin with studying the 20th century, and you will find that a large part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/pick-up-any-history-book-and-i-suggest-you-begin-with-studying-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [There's a whole range of sources of inspiration for the drawings and stories. They come from dreams, hallucinations, pop songs, or other things I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-mcginness/there-s-a-whole-range-of-sources-of-inspiration-for-the-drawings-and/) [Ryan McGinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-mcginness/) > [Memory creates a hallucination of the past, desire creates a hallucination of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/memory-creates-a-hallucination-of-the-past-desire-creates-a/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [About 10 percent of the hearing impaired get musical hallucinations, and about 10 percent of the visually impaired get visual hallucinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/about-10-percent-of-the-hearing-impaired-get-musical-hallucinations/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [As part of my job, I got malaria really badly and was put in intensive care, and I had a hallucination because they give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebel-wilson/as-part-of-my-job-i-got-malaria-really-badly-and-was-put-in-intensive/) [Rebel Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebel-wilson/) > [H. L. Mencken suffers from the hallucination that he is H. L. Mencken - there is no cure for a disease of that magnitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-bodenheim/h-l-mencken-suffers-from-the-hallucination-that-he-is-h-l-mencken/) [Maxwell Bodenheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-bodenheim/) > [Psychotic hallucinations, whether they are visual or vocal, they address you. They accuse you. They seduce you. They humiliate you. They jeer at you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/psychotic-hallucinations-whether-they-are-visual-or-vocal-they/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“To understand the ‘wounded men’ of Upper Palaeolithic art, I now consider somatic hallucinations; these include attenuation of the body and limbs, polymelia (having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/to-understand-the-wounded-men-of-upper-palaeolithic-art-i-now/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [“A ten-year-old Amanda wandering around the sights and sounds of a carnival. Trying to take it all in as such an event was much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-allison-parker/a-ten-year-old-amanda-wandering-around-the-sights-and-sounds-of-a/) [Jaime Allison Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-allison-parker/) > [His smell—the scent of a demon, cinnamon incense, amber musk—wrapped around me, filled my lungs. I felt like I could breathe again, without every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilith-saintcrow/his-smell-the-scent-of-a-demon-cinnamon-incense-amber-musk-wrapped/) [Lilith Saintcrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilith-saintcrow/) > [A hallucination is a species of reality, as capable of teaching you as a videotape about Kilimanjaro or anything else that falls through your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/a-hallucination-is-a-species-of-reality-as-capable-of-teaching-you-as/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I'm not completely sure we aren't all living in a hallucination now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/i-m-not-completely-sure-we-aren-t-all-living-in-a-hallucination-now/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [Well that's the nicest thing a beer induced hallucination has ever said to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocko/well-that-s-the-nicest-thing-a-beer-induced-hallucination-has-ever/) [Rocko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocko/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More by Audrey Niffenegger > [But you know: you know that if I could have stayed, if I could have gone on, that I would have clutched every second:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/but-you-know-you-know-that-if-i-could-have-stayed-if-i-could-have/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [I look at him, look at the book, remember, this book, this moment, the first book I ever loved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-look-at-him-look-at-the-book-remember-this-book-this-moment-the/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“When I was young I didn't understand, but now, I know, how absence can be present, like a damaged nerve, like a dark bird.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/when-i-was-young-i-didn-t-understand-but-now-i-know-how-absence-can/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [Everything seems simple until you think about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/everything-seems-simple-until-you-think-about-it/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [I place my hands over her ears and tip her head back, and kiss her, and try to put my heart into hers, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-place-my-hands-over-her-ears-and-tip-her-head-back-and-kiss-her-and/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“Sister Carmelita says animals don't have souls" "Of course animals have souls, where did she get that idea?" "She said the Pope says." "The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/sister-carmelita-says-animals-don-t-have-souls-of-course-animals-have/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [We didn't think the library was funny looking in it's faux- Greek splendor, nor did we find the cuisine limited or bland, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/we-didn-t-think-the-library-was-funny-looking-in-it-s-faux-greek/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [He said something interesting: he said that he thinks there is only free will when you are in time, in the present. He says…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/he-said-something-interesting-he-said-that-he-thinks-there-is-only/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“Dead is the most alone you can be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/dead-is-the-most-alone-you-can-be/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [What are you doing?" Nothing. Breaking and entering. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/what-are-you-doing-nothing-breaking-and-entering-pay-no-attention-to/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [I won't ever leave you, even though you're always leaving me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-won-t-ever-leave-you-even-though-you-re-always-leaving-me/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“It seems like we're going to collide, and we laugh, and laugh, and nothing can ever be sad, no one can be lost, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/it-seems-like-we-re-going-to-collide-and-we-laugh-and-laugh-and/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“We were royally miserable together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/we-were-royally-miserable-together/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“No.” Valentina closed her eyes. Of course not. “It’ll be great, Mouse. We’ll have our own apartment, we won’t have to work,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/no-valentina-closed-her-eyes-of-course-not-it-ll-be-great-mouse-we-ll/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“I make books because I love them as objects; because I want to put the pictures and the words together, because I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-make-books-because-i-love-them-as-objects-because-i-want-to-put-the/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) [Explore all 250 Audrey Niffenegger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) ## More Cemetery quotes > [The only people without problems are in cemeteries. If you don't have problems, get on your knees and pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/the-only-people-without-problems-are-in-cemeteries-if-you-don-t-have/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“In the middle of the cemetery is a grassy plane, strangely vacant. There are no granite tombs or crumbling concrete, just a sun-washed treeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-caldwell-crosby/in-the-middle-of-the-cemetery-is-a-grassy-plane-strangely-vacant/) [Molly Caldwell Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-caldwell-crosby/) > [If it wasn't for baseball, I'd be in either the penitentiary or the cemetery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babe-ruth/if-it-wasn-t-for-baseball-i-d-be-in-either-the-penitentiary-or-the/) [Babe Ruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babe-ruth/) > [I am surprised that many people disregard the fact that the end for almost all drug dealers ends up being the cemetery or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-pablo-escobar/i-am-surprised-that-many-people-disregard-the-fact-that-the-end-for/) [Juan Pablo Escobar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-pablo-escobar/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“I visited my old haunt, but somehow without all my old friends there with me, the cemetery just wasn’t the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-visited-my-old-haunt-but-somehow-without-all-my-old-friends-there/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Being president of the University of California is like being manager of a cemetery: there are many people under you, but no one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-yudof/being-president-of-the-university-of-california-is-like-being-manager/) [Mark Yudof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-yudof/) > [We think that a powerful and vigorous movement is impossible without differences - "true conformity" is possible only in the cemetery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/we-think-that-a-powerful-and-vigorous-movement-is-impossible-without/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-cemetery-of-the-victims-of-human-cruelty-in-our-century-is/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [In old grimy streets, in isolated and decaying houses, sometimes far from the Vieux Carre, in little used and secluded cemeteries, there still sluggishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-john-laughlin/in-old-grimy-streets-in-isolated-and-decaying-houses-sometimes-far/) [Clarence John Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-john-laughlin/) > [Cats and dogs believe politicians are like cemetery caregivers; they are on top of everyone, but nobody listens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/cats-and-dogs-believe-politicians-are-like-cemetery-caregivers-they/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [“The atmosphere is always very grave when I walk into a cemetery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-atmosphere-is-always-very-grave-when-i-walk-into-a-cemetery/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Nothing exists except by virtue of a disequilibrium, an injustice. All existence is a theft paid for by other existences; no life flowers except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/nothing-exists-except-by-virtue-of-a-disequilibrium-an-injustice-all/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [ Our agreements on creating the conditions for preparing a peace treaty \[with Japan\] should be rooted in this trust. This may be achieved, for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/our-agreements-on-creating-the-conditions-for-preparing-a-peace/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [A cemetery saddens us because it is the only place of the world in which we do not meet our dead again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-mauriac/a-cemetery-saddens-us-because-it-is-the-only-place-of-the-world-in/) [Francois Mauriac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-mauriac/) [Browse all 309 Cemetery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony wilderness of Victorian melancholy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Audrey Niffenegger" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-spread-out-in-the-moonlight-like-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cemetery" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-spread-out-in-the-moonlight-like-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/audrey-niffenegger-1298_cemetery_there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-sprea_984830.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony…” — Audrey Niffenegger", "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": "Audrey Niffenegger", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There was only the cemetery itself,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-spread-out-in-the-moonlight-like-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/there-was-only-the-cemetery-itself-spread-out-in-the-moonlight-like-a/#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 } } ] } ```