--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I got the sexton, who was digging…" description: "\"I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/emily-bronte-574_air_i-got-the-sexton-who-was-digging-linton_1913648.png" --- # I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to… ![“I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again—it is hers yet—he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew on it...” quote by Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/emily-bronte-574_air_i-got-the-sexton-who-was-digging-linton_1913648.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/emily-bronte-574_air_i-got-the-sexton-who-was-digging-linton_1913648.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/emily-bronte-574_air_i-got-the-sexton-who-was-digging-linton_1913648.png) > “I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again—it is hers yet—he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew on it...” [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grief and lingering attachment to the dead can compel one to revisit painful memories, seeking closure or connection. **In simple terms:** Missing someone makes you revisit their memory. Key Takeaway Allow yourself to process grief. Themes grief memory loss attachment Mood somber reflective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - funeral rites - personal reflection - writing therapy - family gatherings Key Concepts nostalgia closure psychology Questions to Reflect On - What unresolved feelings do you hold? - How can you honor memories while living fully? A Different Perspective Clinging to the past may hinder moving forward. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Air](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air/) [Coffin Lid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffin-lid-2233858/) [Coffins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffins/) [Digging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digging/) [Digging Linton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digging-linton-2896731/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Got Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/got-sexton-2896734/) [Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graves/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Heathcliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heathcliff/) [Linton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linton/) [Linton Grave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linton-grave-2896732/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Sexton Digging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexton-digging-2896733/) ## Related quotes > [My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will changeit,I'mwellaware, aswinterchangesthetrees. My Love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneatha…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/my-love-for-linton-is-like-the-foliage-in-the-woods-time-will/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/whatever-our-souls-are-made-of-his-and-mine-are-the-same-and-linton-s/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Yet I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton's attachment more than mine -- If he love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/yet-i-was-a-fool-to-fancy-for-a-moment-that-she-valued-edgar-linton-s/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [...he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he is more myself than I am.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/he-shall-never-know-how-i-love-him-and-that-not-because-he-s-handsome/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven and if the wicked man in there had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-ve-no-more-business-to-marry-edgar-linton-than-i-have-to-be-in/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [You loved me-then what right had you to leave me? What right-answer me-for the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery and degradation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/you-loved-me-then-what-right-had-you-to-leave-me-what-right-answer-me/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Cathy, this lamb of yours threatens like a bull!' he said. 'It is in danger of splitting its skull against my knuckles. By God!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/cathy-this-lamb-of-yours-threatens-like-a-bull-he-said-it-is-in/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-intense-horror-of-nightmare-came-over-me-i-tried-to-draw-back-my/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Fame is but an inscription on a grave, and glory the melancholy blazon on a coffin lid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-smith/fame-is-but-an-inscription-on-a-grave-and-glory-the-melancholy-blazon/) [Alexander Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-smith/) > [“Coffin,why no lid? Too antiseptic for Hell, and could the roof of heaven really be made of gray metal?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davidson/coffin-why-no-lid-too-antiseptic-for-hell-and-could-the-roof-of/) [Andrew Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davidson/) > [The consumer's side of the coffin lid is never ostentatious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/the-consumer-s-side-of-the-coffin-lid-is-never-ostentatious/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [“I went to visit my dad. He didn’t say a word to me. Or if he did, I couldn’t hear it through the grass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-went-to-visit-my-dad-he-didn-t-say-a-word-to-me-or-if-he-did-i/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [If you don't have humour, then you may as well nail the coffin lid down now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-moore/if-you-don-t-have-humour-then-you-may-as-well-nail-the-coffin-lid/) [Roger Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-moore/) > [In the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-coren/in-the-days-when-the-keepers-of-the-house-shall-tremble-and-the/) [Alan Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-coren/) > [“To The Undertaker or Friends Who Open This Coffin: After laying back the lid of the coffin, remove entirely the pads from the sides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edison-mcdaniels/to-the-undertaker-or-friends-who-open-this-coffin-after-laying-back/) [Edison McDaniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edison-mcdaniels/) ## More by Emily Bronte > [Honest people don't hide their deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/honest-people-don-t-hide-their-deeds/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [He is more myself than I am. Whatever our two souls are made of, his and mine are the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/he-is-more-myself-than-i-am-whatever-our-two-souls-are-made-of-his/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night's decay Ushers in a drearier day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-shall-smile-when-wreaths-of-snow-blossom-where-the-rose-should-grow/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will changeit,I'mwellaware, aswinterchangesthetrees. My Love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneatha…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/my-love-for-linton-is-like-the-foliage-in-the-woods-time-will/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free; and laughing at injuries, not maddening under them! Why am I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-wish-i-were-a-girl-again-half-savage-and-hardy-and-free-and/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [The entire world is a collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-entire-world-is-a-collection-of-memoranda-that-she-did-exist-and/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“Papa talks enough of my defects, and shows enough scorn of me, to make it natural I should doubt myself. I doubt whether I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/papa-talks-enough-of-my-defects-and-shows-enough-scorn-of-me-to-make/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“Mama never told me I had a father.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/mama-never-told-me-i-had-a-father/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-intense-horror-of-nightmare-came-over-me-i-tried-to-draw-back-my/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“It is not in him to be loved like me: how can she love in him what he has not?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-not-in-him-to-be-loved-like-me-how-can-she-love-in-him-what-he/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-have-lost-the-faculty-of-enjoying-their-destruction-and-i-am-too/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/my-love-for-heathcliff-resembles-the-eternal-rocks-beneath-a-source/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Tis moonlight, summer moonlight, All soft and still and fair; The solemn hour of midnight Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere, But most where trees are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/tis-moonlight-summer-moonlight-all-soft-and-still-and-fair-the-solemn/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“It expressed, plainer than words could do, the intense anguish at having made himself the instrument of thwarting his own revenge. Had it been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-expressed-plainer-than-words-could-do-the-intense-anguish-at/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) [Explore all 400 Emily Bronte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. 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But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. 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