--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If You Should Go Love, leave me like the…" description: "\"“If You Should Go Love, leave me like the light, The gently passing day; We would not know, but for the night, When it has slipped away. Go quietly; a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/countee-cullen-16922_love_if-you-should-go-love-leave-me-like-the_2332544.jpg" --- # If You Should Go Love, leave me like the light, The gently… ![“If You Should Go Love, leave me like the light, The gently passing day; We would not know, but for the night, When it has slipped away. Go quietly; a dream, When done, should leave no trace That it has lived, except a gleam Across the dreamer's face.” quote by Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/countee-cullen-16922_love_if-you-should-go-love-leave-me-like-the_2332544.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/countee-cullen-16922_love_if-you-should-go-love-leave-me-like-the_2332544.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/countee-cullen-16922_love_if-you-should-go-love-leave-me-like-the_2332544.jpg) > ““If You Should Go Love, leave me like the light, The gently passing day; We would not know, but for the night, When it has slipped away. Go quietly; a dream, When done, should leave no trace That it has lived, except a gleam Across the dreamer's face.”” [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is fleeting; it should leave only a gentle memory without lingering trace. **In simple terms:** Love should be brief and leave a gentle memory. Key Takeaway Cherish moments, let go gracefully. Themes love transience memory beauty Mood poetic melancholic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - romantic relationships - artistic inspiration - personal loss Key Concepts ephemeral affection poetic expression emotional restraint Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to love without attachment? - How can you honor a love that ends? A Different Perspective Holding onto love can cause pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Away Quietly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/away-quietly-357510/) [Leave Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave-like-508460/) [Light Gently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-gently-5615779/) [Like Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-light/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Quietly Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quietly-dream-5615778/) ## Related quotes > [Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/walk-away-quietly-in-any-direction-and-taste-the-freedom-of-the-2/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“When the time comes to leave, just walk away quietly and don't make any fuss.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banksy/when-the-time-comes-to-leave-just-walk-away-quietly-and-don-t-make/) [Banksy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banksy/) > [When he time comes to leave, just walk away quietly and don't make any fuss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banksy/when-he-time-comes-to-leave-just-walk-away-quietly-and-don-t-make-any/) [Banksy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banksy/) > [Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/walk-away-quietly-in-any-direction-and-taste-the-freedom-of-the/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [I was never going to be one to just go away quietly and get on with things in the shadows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-groves/i-was-never-going-to-be-one-to-just-go-away-quietly-and-get-on-with/) [George Groves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-groves/) > [Promise me you will never leave. That we can be like this forever. Just holding each other like this till the break of dawn.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serenity-karma/promise-me-you-will-never-leave-that-we-can-be-like-this-forever-just/) [Serenity Karma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serenity-karma/) > [I wanted the past to go away, I wanted to leave it, like another country; I wanted my life to close, and open like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-wanted-the-past-to-go-away-i-wanted-to-leave-it-like-another/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Treat me like some joke, and I'll leave you like it's funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/why-not/treat-me-like-some-joke-and-i-ll-leave-you-like-it-s-funny/) [Why Not](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/why-not/) > [Nathan. I can't believe you would just leave like that. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE. You didn't deserve to be bullied. Why did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nathan-i-can-t-believe-you-would-just-leave-like-that-why-did-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You can't tell me I matter and then leave like I don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-tell-me-i-matter-and-then-leave-like-i-don-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you try to leave me like this, I will haunt you until the end of your days. I will drop out of classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/if-you-try-to-leave-me-like-this-i-will-haunt-you-until-the-end-of/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [Treat me like a joke and I'll leave you like its funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/treat-me-like-a-joke-and-i-ll-leave-you-like-its-funny/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Let's Leave like we are a Brother and i sister who will not stop loving each other...-Hope Tban”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-t-ban/let-s-leave-like-we-are-a-brother-and-i-sister-who-will-not-stop/) [Hope T-Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-t-ban/) > [Oh, America! I could never leave you! You're like my dog, dumb as a post but you make me laugh!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/oh-america-i-could-never-leave-you-you-re-like-my-dog-dumb-as-a-post/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Always enter like a kitten and leave like a lion. But NEVER enter like a lion and leave like a kitten. Always be humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlson-gracie/always-enter-like-a-kitten-and-leave-like-a-lion-but-never-enter-like/) [Carlson Gracie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlson-gracie/) ## More by Countee Cullen > [There is no secret to success except hard work and getting something indefinable which we call 'the breaks.' In order for a writer to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/there-is-no-secret-to-success-except-hard-work-and-getting-something/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [The night whose sable breast relieves the stark, White stars, is no less lovely being dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/the-night-whose-sable-breast-relieves-the-stark-white-stars-is-no/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [Dame Poverty gave me my name, And Pain godfathered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/dame-poverty-gave-me-my-name-and-pain-godfathered-me/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [There is no secret to success except hard work and getting something indefinable which we call 'the breaks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/there-is-no-secret-to-success-except-hard-work-and-getting-something-2/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [Ever at Thy glowing altar Must my heart grow sick and falter, Wishing He I served were black.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/ever-at-thy-glowing-altar-must-my-heart-grow-sick-and-falter-wishing/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [I have a rendezvous with life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/i-have-a-rendezvous-with-life/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [“My poetry, I think, has become the way of my giving out what music is within me”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/my-poetry-i-think-has-become-the-way-of-my-giving-out-what-music-is/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [All day long and all night through, One thing only must I do: Quench my pride and cool my blood, Lest I perish in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/all-day-long-and-all-night-through-one-thing-only-must-i-do-quench-my/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [Africa? A book one thumbs Listlessly, till slumber comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/africa-a-book-one-thumbs-listlessly-till-slumber-comes/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [What is Africa to me: Copper sun or scarlet sea, Jungle star or jungle track, Strong bronzed men, or regal black Women from whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/what-is-africa-to-me-copper-sun-or-scarlet-sea-jungle-star-or-jungle/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [Your love to me was like an unread book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/your-love-to-me-was-like-an-unread-book/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [Give but a grain of the heart's rich seed, Confine some under cover, And when love goes, bid him God-speed. And find another lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/give-but-a-grain-of-the-heart-s-rich-seed-confine-some-under-cover/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [Whatever lives is granted breath But by the grace and sufferance of Death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/whatever-lives-is-granted-breath-but-by-the-grace-and-sufferance-of/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [The loss of love is a terrible thing; They lie who say that death is worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/the-loss-of-love-is-a-terrible-thing-they-lie-who-say-that-death-is/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [My poetry has become the way of my giving out what music is within me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/my-poetry-has-become-the-way-of-my-giving-out-what-music-is-within-me/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) [Explore all 38 Countee Cullen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) ## More Love quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. 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Emilie Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-emilie-cady/) > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“To be loved by a man, truly loved, made a woman feel as if she could burst. Of course, Lia was strong and could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-anne/to-be-loved-by-a-man-truly-loved-made-a-woman-feel-as-if-she-could/) [Melody Anne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-anne/) > [So when you take those tears, don't look to see I'm alright. …\*Seal - Violet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/so-when-you-take-those-tears-don-t-look-to-see-i-m-alright-seal-violet/) [Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. 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