--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The jagged mountains were pure blue in…" description: "\"The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay op..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg" --- # The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and… ![“The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay opposed to each other across the earth, the sun whitehot and the moon a pale replica, as if they were the ends of a common bore beyond whose…” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg) > “The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay opposed to each other across the earth, the sun whitehot and the moon a pale replica, as if they were the ends of a common bore beyond whose terminals burned worlds past all reckoning.” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage paints a vast, cosmic contrast between day and night, suggesting the universe’s endless cycles and the smallness of human experience. **In simple terms:** Morning and night clash, showing nature’s grand scale. Key Takeaway Recognize humanity’s place in a larger cosmos. Themes nature cosmos contrast beauty Mood awe contemplative melancholic Type literary descriptive poetic When to use this quote - sunrise contemplation - poetry writing - travel photography - meditation on scale Key Concepts existentialism romanticism imagery Questions to Reflect On - How does this cosmic view affect your daily worries? - What does the contrast of sun and moon symbolize for you? A Different Perspective The vivid description may idealize nature, overlooking human hardship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Birds Twittered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds-twittered-3371381/) [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Bores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bores/) [Burned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burned/) [Caught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caught/) [Caught Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caught-moon-3371380/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dawn/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Jagged Mountains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jagged-mountains-3371378/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Moon Pale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon-pale-1660674/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Opposed Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposed-earth-3371379/) [Pale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pale/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Reckoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reckoning/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/west/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The stars up close to the moon were pale; they got brighter and braver the farther they got out of the circle of light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/the-stars-up-close-to-the-moon-were-pale-they-got-brighter-and-braver/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [“He looked at me like I was the moon. Pale and lonely and so far away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/he-looked-at-me-like-i-was-the-moon-pale-and-lonely-and-so-far-away/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [Night comes, world-jewelled, . . . The stars rush forth in myriads as to wage War with the lines of Darkness; and the moon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-james-bailey/night-comes-world-jewelled-the-stars-rush-forth-in-myriads-as-to-wage/) [Philip James Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-james-bailey/) > [“The late evening is the time of times. Then with that unearthly beauty before one it is not hard to realise how far one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/the-late-evening-is-the-time-of-times-then-with-that-unearthly-beauty/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Books lie, he said. God dont lie. No, said the judge. He does not. And these are his words. He held up a chunk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/books-lie-he-said-god-dont-lie-no-said-the-judge-he-does-not-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [The truth about the world, he said, is that anything is possible. Had you not seen it all from birth and thereby bled it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-truth-about-the-world-he-said-is-that-anything-is-possible-had/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [The blackness he woke to on those nights was sightless and impenetrable. A blackness to hurt your ears with listening. Often he had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-blackness-he-woke-to-on-those-nights-was-sightless-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [A man seeks his own destiny and no other, said the judge. Wil or nill. Any man who could discover his own fate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/a-man-seeks-his-own-destiny-and-no-other-said-the-judge-wil-or-nill/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning - an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/morality-without-religion-is-only-a-kind-of-dead-reckoning-an/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [For when the heart insists on its destiny, resisting the general blandishment, then the agony is great; so too the danger. Forces, however, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/for-when-the-heart-insists-on-its-destiny-resisting-the-general/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“If you will invest the maximum amount of time in hard work, polishing and building your own land of promise, you will become great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-will-invest-the-maximum-amount-of-time-in-hard-work-polishing/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [To sensible men, every day is a day of reckoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/to-sensible-men-every-day-is-a-day-of-reckoning/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. 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For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. 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The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay opposed to each other across the earth, the sun whitehot and the moon a pale replica, as if they were the ends of a common bore beyond whose terminals burned worlds past all reckoning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cormac McCarthy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-the-dawn-and-everywhere-birds/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-the-dawn-and-everywhere-birds/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/cormac-mccarthy-181_bird_the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-t_1979535.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose…” — Cormac McCarthy", "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": "Cormac McCarthy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The jagged mountains were pure blue...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-the-dawn-and-everywhere-birds/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-jagged-mountains-were-pure-blue-in-the-dawn-and-everywhere-birds/#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 } } ] } ```