Late summer Quote by Ernest Hemingway
““In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway, 1929
The narrator describes a war‑torn landscape where natural beauty contrasts with military presence, highlighting loss of peace and innocence.
In simple terms: War disrupts peaceful scenery, leaving lingering sorrow.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the cost of conflict on everyday life.
Themes
war
nature
loss
memory
innocence
Mood
melancholic
reflective
Type
literary
descriptive
When to use this quote
- war zones
- travel memoirs
- historical reflection
- peace activism
Key Concepts
Contrast
impermanence
human experience
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the river symbolize?
- How does the setting affect our view of war?
A Different Perspective
The passage may romanticize hardship, overlooking civilian suffering.
