--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It…" description: "\"The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams And desir..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg" --- # The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves… ![“The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams And desires to stir, to resist a ghost of pain.” quote by Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg) > “The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams And desires to stir, to resist a ghost of pain.” [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) ## 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 portrays wind as a restless, grieving force that disrupts and awakens hidden desires, symbolizing inner turmoil and the urge to resist pain. **In simple terms:** Wind is restless and awakens hidden pain. Key Takeaway Acknowledge inner unrest and channel it constructively. Themes nature emotion conflict awakening resistance Mood melancholy introspective dramatic Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - stormy days - creative writing - personal reflection - mental health coping - artistic inspiration Key Concepts existential longing psychological tension symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What inner conflicts does the wind represent for you? - How can you transform restless energy into purposeful action? A Different Perspective The metaphor may over‑dramatize natural phenomena, limiting practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Enormous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous/) [Enormous Sleeper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous-sleeper-3245068/) [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Grieving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grieving/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Shrieks Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrieks-wind-3245067/) [Sleeper Vaguely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleeper-vaguely-3245066/) [Sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleepers/) [Stupidly Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidly-dreams-3245065/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [Wind Shrieks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind-shrieks-3245064/) ## Related quotes > [Wherever I went I felt like the last person awake in a room full of sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/wherever-i-went-i-felt-like-the-last-person-awake-in-a-room-full-of/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper, to shake the complacent pillars of the world.In a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-bethune/the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-disturb-his-duty-is-to-arouse-the-2/) [Norman Bethune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-bethune/) > [I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-lingered-round-them-under-that-benign-sky-watched-the-moths/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [When you're on a sleeper at night, take your pocketbook and put it in a sock under your pillow. That way, the next morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ping-bodie/when-you-re-on-a-sleeper-at-night-take-your-pocketbook-and-put-it-in/) [Ping Bodie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ping-bodie/) > [Since I last slept, kept takin' sleepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faithless/since-i-last-slept-kept-takin-sleepers/) [Faithless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faithless/) > [The spring rains woke the dormant tillers, and bright green shoots sprang from the moist earth and rose like sleepers stretching after a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/the-spring-rains-woke-the-dormant-tillers-and-bright-green-shoots/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/you-can-be-active-with-the-activists-or-sleep-in-with-the-sleepers/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [All the sleepers in a night of delution beholding so many dreams. In this world of darkness, only those who sever themselves from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-the-sleepers-in-a-night-of-delution-beholding-so-many-dreams-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sleeping people are so remote… Right here, but out of communication. That's what strikes humans as uncanny about sleep. Its utter privacy. The sleeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/sleeping-people-are-so-remote-right-here-but-out-of-communication/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Ecology is a dirty seven-letter word to many people. They are like heavy sleepers refusing to be aroused. "Leave me alone! It's not time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/ecology-is-a-dirty-seven-letter-word-to-many-people-they-are-like/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The town was glad with morning light; places that had shown ugly and distrustful all night long, now wore a smile; and sparkling sunbeams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-town-was-glad-with-morning-light-places-that-had-shown-ugly-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The most painful thing in life is to wake up from a dream and find no way out. Dreamers are fortunate people. If no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-to-wake-up-from-a-dream-and-find-no/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper, to shake the complacent pillars of the world. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-bethune/the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-disturb-his-duty-is-to-arouse-the/) [Norman Bethune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-bethune/) > [Oft in the silence of the night, When the lonely moon rides high, When wintry winds are whistling, And we hear the owl's shrill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/oft-in-the-silence-of-the-night-when-the-lonely-moon-rides-high-when/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [“The waking have one world in common; sleepers have each a private world of his own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/the-waking-have-one-world-in-common-sleepers-have-each-a-private/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) ## More by Conrad Aiken > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The truth--a hideous spectacle!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-truth-a-hideous-spectacle/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“It was gentler here, softer, its seethe the quietest of whispers, as if, in deference to a drawing room, it had quite deliberately put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-was-gentler-here-softer-its-seethe-the-quietest-of-whispers-as-if/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [One cricket said to another - come, let us be ridiculous, and say love! love love love love love let us be absurd, woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-cricket-said-to-another-come-let-us-be-ridiculous-and-say-love/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [I began by doing book reviews on the typewriter and then went over to short stories on the machine, meanwhile sticking to pencil for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-began-by-doing-book-reviews-on-the-typewriter-and-then-went-over-to/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“And the mist of snow, as he had foreseen, was still on it - a ghost of snow falling in the bright sunlight, softly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/and-the-mist-of-snow-as-he-had-foreseen-was-still-on-it-a-ghost-of/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [I think it's very useful to be insulated from your surrounds, because it gives you your inviolate privacy, without pressures, so that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-think-it-s-very-useful-to-be-insulated-from-your-surrounds-because/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Death is one dream out of another flowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/death-is-one-dream-out-of-another-flowing/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Death is never an ending, death is a change; Death is beautiful, for death is strange; Death is one dream out of another flowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/death-is-never-an-ending-death-is-a-change-death-is-beautiful-for/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [As poetry is the highest speech of man, it can not only accept and contain, but in the end express best everything in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/as-poetry-is-the-highest-speech-of-man-it-can-not-only-accept-and/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Youth yearns to youth, full blood loves full blood only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/youth-yearns-to-youth-full-blood-loves-full-blood-only/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometimes-when-one-is-most-positive/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [For in this walk, this voyage, it is yourself, the profound history of your 'self,' that now as always you encounter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/for-in-this-walk-this-voyage-it-is-yourself-the-profound-history-of/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Life is the thing--the song of life-- The eager plow, the thirsty knife!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/life-is-the-thing-the-song-of-life-the-eager-plow-the-thirsty-knife/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Music I heard with you was more than music, and bread I broke with you was more than bread. Now that I am without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/music-i-heard-with-you-was-more-than-music-and-bread-i-broke-with-you/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) [Explore all 70 Conrad Aiken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams And desires to stir, to resist a ghost of pain.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Conrad Aiken" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/conrad-aiken-9766_desire_the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-das_351453.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous…” — Conrad Aiken", "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": "Conrad Aiken", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The wind shrieks, the wind grieves;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/#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 } } ] } ```