--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lord Cut-Glass, in his kitchen full of…" description: "\"“Lord Cut-Glass, in his kitchen full of time, squats down alone to a dogdish, marked Fido, of peppery fish-scraps and listens to the voices of his sixt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dylan-thomas-1889_clocks_lord-cut-glass-in-his-kitchen-full-of-ti_3028915.jpg" --- # Lord Cut-Glass, in his kitchen full of time, squats down… ![“Lord Cut-Glass, in his kitchen full of time, squats down alone to a dogdish, marked Fido, of peppery fish-scraps and listens to the voices of his sixty-six clocks, one for each year of his loony age, and watches, with love, their black-and-white moony loudlipped faces tocking the earth away: slow…” quote by Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dylan-thomas-1889_clocks_lord-cut-glass-in-his-kitchen-full-of-ti_3028915.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dylan-thomas-1889_clocks_lord-cut-glass-in-his-kitchen-full-of-ti_3028915.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dylan-thomas-1889_clocks_lord-cut-glass-in-his-kitchen-full-of-ti_3028915.jpg) > ““Lord Cut-Glass, in his kitchen full of time, squats down alone to a dogdish, marked Fido, of peppery fish-scraps and listens to the voices of his sixty-six clocks, one for each year of his loony age, and watches, with love, their black-and-white moony loudlipped faces tocking the earth away: slow clocks, quick clocks, pendulumed heart-knocks, china, alarm, grandfather, cuckoo; clocks shaped like Noah's whirring Ark, clocks that bicker in marble ships, clocks in the wombs of glass women, hourglass chimers, tu-wit-tuwoo clocks, clocks that pluck tunes, Vesuvius clocks all black bells and lava, Niagara clocks that cataract their ticks, old time weeping clocks with ebony beards, clocks with no hands for ever drumming out time without ever knowing what time it is. His sixty-six singers are all set at different hours. Lord Cut-Glass lives in a house and a life at siege. Any minute or dark day now, the unknown enemy will loot and savage downhill, but they will not catch him napping. Sixty-six different times in his fish-slimy kitchen ping, strike, tick, chime, and tock.”” [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal portrait of a man surrounded by countless clocks, each marking a different year of his life, reflecting on time’s relentless, fragmented nature and his vigilance against chaos. **In simple terms:** A man lives among many clocks, each showing a different year, symbolizing fragmented time and constant alertness. Key Takeaway Embrace awareness of time’s many layers and stay prepared. Themes time loneliness vigilance surrealism age Mood melancholic contemplative enigmatic Type poetic literary philosophical When to use this quote - daily routine - personal reflection - creative writing - stress management - mindfulness Key Concepts fragmented temporality existential awareness psychological metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience multiple “times” in your life? - What does vigilance mean to you in everyday moments? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overwhelm, obscuring practical insight for ordinary readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clocks/) [Clocks Clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clocks-clocks-1634426/) [Clocks Shaped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clocks-shaped-4937799/) [Different times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-times/) [Old time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-time/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time passing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-passing/) [Voices Clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voices-clocks-4937797/) [Weeping Clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping-clocks-4937798/) ## Related quotes > [I have over a hundred clocks. I've got fancy clocks and clocks from all over the world that people made for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flavor-flav/i-have-over-a-hundred-clocks-i-ve-got-fancy-clocks-and-clocks-from/) [Flavor Flav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flavor-flav/) > [I never wore a watch. I always depend on public clocks, and stores have clocks, but that is strange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-katchor/i-never-wore-a-watch-i-always-depend-on-public-clocks-and-stores-have/) [Ben Katchor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-katchor/) > [Making books is a skilled trade, like making clocks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/making-books-is-a-skilled-trade-like-making-clocks/) [Jean De La Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Remember when there would be people wearing giant clocks as necklaces and everyone thought that was cool? I miss those days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-when-there-would-be-people-wearing-giant-clocks-as-necklaces/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You were always my girl but you're wasting time on him. I wish I could turn back the clocks to when you still had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-were-always-my-girl-but-you-re-wasting-time-on-him-i-wish-i-could/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Laws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/laws-and-institutions-like-clocks-must-occasionally-be-cleaned-wound/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Today's shitty attitude by me is proudly sponsored by my alarm clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-s-shitty-attitude-by-me-is-proudly-sponsored-by-my-alarm-clock/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The steward, according to custom, had stopped all the clocks. This, in the language of Narouz, said "Your stay with us is so brief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-steward-according-to-custom-had-stopped-all-the-clocks-this-in/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Tip #2: No more alarm clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-helen-conroy/tip-2-no-more-alarm-clocks/) [Mary Helen Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-helen-conroy/) > [Sleeping is my drug, my bed is the dealer, and my alarm clock is the police..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-sakundiak/sleeping-is-my-drug-my-bed-is-the-dealer-and-my-alarm-clock-is-the/) [Mitchell Sakundiak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-sakundiak/) > [“Death Laughs In The Faces Of Clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/death-laughs-in-the-faces-of-clocks/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [I got these hataz like when he gon stop? maybe a minute after never start ya clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-got-these-hataz-like-when-he-gon-stop-maybe-a-minute-after-never/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [“Do days exist without calendars? Does time pass when there are no human hands left to wind the clocks?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-koch/do-days-exist-without-calendars-does-time-pass-when-there-are-no/) [Howard Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-koch/) > [“You shouldn't be in here!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-winters/you-shouldn-t-be-in-here/) [Evelyn Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-winters/) ## More by Dylan Thomas > [I liked the taste of beer, its live, white lather, its brass-bright depths, the sudden world through the wet-brown walls of the glass, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-liked-the-taste-of-beer-its-live-white-lather-its-brass-bright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [There is only one position for an artist anywhere; and that is upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/there-is-only-one-position-for-an-artist-anywhere-and-that-is-upright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [“Thousands of miles,' I said. It's Rhosilli, USA. We're going to camp on a bit of rock that wobbles in the winds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/thousands-of-miles-i-said-it-s-rhosilli-usa-we-re-going-to-camp-on-a/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/one-christmas-was-so-much-like-another-in-those-years-around-the-sea/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-hold-a-beast-an-angel-and-a-madman-in-me-and-my-enquiry-is-as-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Youth calls to age across the tired years: 'What have you found,' he cries, 'what have you sought?" 'What have you found,' age answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/youth-calls-to-age-across-the-tired-years-what-have-you-found-he/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Do not go gentle into that goodnight, rage, rage against the dying of the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-goodnight-rage-rage-against-the-dying-of/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [To begin, at the beginning...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/to-begin-at-the-beginning/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Rhianon, he said, hold my hand, Rhianon. She did not hear him, but stood over his bed and fixed him with an unbroken sorrow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/rhianon-he-said-hold-my-hand-rhianon-she-did-not-hear-him-but-stood/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I know in London a Welsh hairdresser who has striven so vehemently to abolish his accent that he sounds like a man speaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-in-london-a-welsh-hairdresser-who-has-striven-so-vehemently-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Dark is a way and light is a place, Heaven that never was Nor will be ever is always true "Poem on His Birthday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/dark-is-a-way-and-light-is-a-place-heaven-that-never-was-nor-will-be/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [And now, gentlemen, like your manners, I must leave you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/and-now-gentlemen-like-your-manners-i-must-leave-you/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Now behind the eyes and secrets of the dreamers in the streets rocked to sleep by the sea, see the titbits and topsyturvies, bobs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/now-behind-the-eyes-and-secrets-of-the-dreamers-in-the-streets-rocked/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I believe in New Yorkers. Whether they’ve ever questioned the dream in which they live, I wouldn’t know, because I won’t ever dare ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-believe-in-new-yorkers-whether-they-ve-ever-questioned-the-dream-in/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) [Explore all 201 Dylan Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## More Clocks quotes > [“You shouldn't be in here!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-winters/you-shouldn-t-be-in-here/) [Evelyn Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-winters/) > [“Do days exist without calendars? Does time pass when there are no human hands left to wind the clocks?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-koch/do-days-exist-without-calendars-does-time-pass-when-there-are-no/) [Howard Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-koch/) > [I got these hataz like when he gon stop? maybe a minute after never start ya clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-got-these-hataz-like-when-he-gon-stop-maybe-a-minute-after-never/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [“Death Laughs In The Faces Of Clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/death-laughs-in-the-faces-of-clocks/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [Sleeping is my drug, my bed is the dealer, and my alarm clock is the police..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-sakundiak/sleeping-is-my-drug-my-bed-is-the-dealer-and-my-alarm-clock-is-the/) [Mitchell Sakundiak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-sakundiak/) > [“Tip #2: No more alarm clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-helen-conroy/tip-2-no-more-alarm-clocks/) [Mary Helen Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-helen-conroy/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [The steward, according to custom, had stopped all the clocks. This, in the language of Narouz, said "Your stay with us is so brief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-steward-according-to-custom-had-stopped-all-the-clocks-this-in/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [Today's shitty attitude by me is proudly sponsored by my alarm clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-s-shitty-attitude-by-me-is-proudly-sponsored-by-my-alarm-clock/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Laws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/laws-and-institutions-like-clocks-must-occasionally-be-cleaned-wound/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [You were always my girl but you're wasting time on him. I wish I could turn back the clocks to when you still had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-were-always-my-girl-but-you-re-wasting-time-on-him-i-wish-i-could/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember when there would be people wearing giant clocks as necklaces and everyone thought that was cool? I miss those days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-when-there-would-be-people-wearing-giant-clocks-as-necklaces/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Making books is a skilled trade, like making clocks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/making-books-is-a-skilled-trade-like-making-clocks/) [Jean De La Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [I never wore a watch. I always depend on public clocks, and stores have clocks, but that is strange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-katchor/i-never-wore-a-watch-i-always-depend-on-public-clocks-and-stores-have/) [Ben Katchor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-katchor/) > [“Time can play all sorts of tricks on you. In the blink of an eye, babies appear in carriages, coffins disappear into the ground,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-selznick/time-can-play-all-sorts-of-tricks-on-you-in-the-blink-of-an-eye/) [Brian Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-selznick/) [Browse all 137 Clocks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clocks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Lord Cut-Glass, in his kitchen full of time, squats down alone to a dogdish, marked Fido, of peppery fish-scraps and listens to the voices of his sixty-six clocks, one for each year of his loony age, and watches, with love, their black-and-white moony loudlipped faces tocking the earth away: slow clocks, quick clocks, pendulumed heart-knocks, china, alarm, grandfather, cuckoo; clocks shaped like Noah's whirring Ark, clocks that bicker in marble ships, clocks in the wombs of glass women, hourglass chimers, tu-wit-tuwoo clocks, clocks that pluck tunes, Vesuvius clocks all black bells and lava, Niagara clocks that cataract their ticks, old time weeping clocks with ebony beards, clocks with no hands for ever drumming out time without ever knowing what time it is. His sixty-six singers are all set at different hours. Lord Cut-Glass lives in a house and a life at siege. Any minute or dark day now, the unknown enemy will loot and savage downhill, but they will not catch him napping. 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