--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What matters most has an ultimate…" description: "\"What matters most has an ultimate metallic quality of death. The chasuble and the wagon wheel, the razor and the prickly beards of shepherds, the bare ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/879/federico-garc-a-lorca-2086_beard_what-matters-most-has-an-ultimate-metall_2833933.jpg" --- # What matters most has an ultimate metallic quality of… ![“What matters most has an ultimate metallic quality of death. The chasuble and the wagon wheel, the razor and the prickly beards of shepherds, the bare moon, a fly, humid cupboards, rubble piles, the images of saints covered in lace, quicklime, and the wounding edges of the rooflines and watchtowers.” quote by Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/879/federico-garc-a-lorca-2086_beard_what-matters-most-has-an-ultimate-metall_2833933.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/879/federico-garc-a-lorca-2086_beard_what-matters-most-has-an-ultimate-metall_2833933.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/879/federico-garc-a-lorca-2086_beard_what-matters-most-has-an-ultimate-metall_2833933.jpg) > “What matters most has an ultimate metallic quality of death. The chasuble and the wagon wheel, the razor and the prickly beards of shepherds, the bare moon, a fly, humid cupboards, rubble piles, the images of saints covered in lace, quicklime, and the wounding edges of the rooflines and watchtowers.” [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Death is described through vivid, unsettling images that convey its inevitable, unsettling presence **In simple terms:** Death is shown as a collection of stark, haunting details Key Takeaway Recognize the raw, unavoidable nature of mortality Themes mortality imagery existentialism Mood somber reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - literary analysis - creative writing - philosophical reflection Key Concepts symbolism surrealism Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do these images evoke? - How does the poem’s style affect its message? A Different Perspective The metaphorical language may obscure literal meaning ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beard/) [Covered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covered/) [Cupboards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cupboards/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Chasuble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-chasuble-3677515/) [Edges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edges/) [Lace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lace/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Metallic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metallic/) [Metallic Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metallic-quality-3677513/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Razors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/razors/) [Rubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rubble/) [Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Shepherds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shepherds/) [Ultimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate/) [Ultimate Metallic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate-metallic-3677514/) [Wagon wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wagon-wheels-202640/) [Wagons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wagons/) [What matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-matters/) [Wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheels/) ## Related quotes > [Visualize a wagon wheel as a complete team. A leader might be the hub of the wheel at the center. 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Imagine each one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-busey/when-you-are-on-the-set-you-have-different-departments-you-got-camera/) [Gary Busey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-busey/) > [When one speaks of increasing power, machinery, and industry there comes up a picture of a cold, metallic sort of world in which great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/when-one-speaks-of-increasing-power-machinery-and-industry-there/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [The excellence of metallic money in free circulation consists in the fact that it renders impossible the abuse of the power of the government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faustino-ballve/the-excellence-of-metallic-money-in-free-circulation-consists-in-the/) [Faustino Ballve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faustino-ballve/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time. The first is as rigid and metallic as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there-2/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [The time is probably near when a new system of architectural laws will be developed, adapted entirely to metallic construction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-time-is-probably-near-when-a-new-system-of-architectural-laws/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [The voice of America has no undertones or overtones in it. It repeats its optimistic catchwords in a tireless monologue that has the slightly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-palmer/the-voice-of-america-has-no-undertones-or-overtones-in-it-it-repeats/) [Vance Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-palmer/) > [In this metallic age of barbarians, only a relentless cultivation of our ability to dream, to analyse and to captivate can prevent our personality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/in-this-metallic-age-of-barbarians-only-a-relentless-cultivation-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [So if big enough droplets fell far enough fast enough, someone floating right near the metallic hydrogen layer inside Jupiter maybe, just maybe, could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kean/so-if-big-enough-droplets-fell-far-enough-fast-enough-someone/) [Sam Kean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kean/) > [Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. She armed herself with two thorns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/old-flossie-settle-down-on-the-other-side-of-what-the-dickens-and/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in." "Yes!" Leo pumped his fist. \*…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/we-started-this-together-leo-seems-only-right-you-come-along-you-find/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) ## More by Federico Garcia Lorca > [“...My voice is stained with bloody light, and I see irises dry up at its touch; in my song I wear the finery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/my-voice-is-stained-with-bloody-light-and-i-see-irises-dry-up-at-its/) [Federico García Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [A dead man in Spain is more alive than a dead man anywhere in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/a-dead-man-in-spain-is-more-alive-than-a-dead-man-anywhere-in-the/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [“Here I want to see those men of hard voice. Those that break horses and dominate rivers; those men of sonorous skeleton who sing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/here-i-want-to-see-those-men-of-hard-voice-those-that-break-horses/) [Federico García Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [The one thing life has taught me is that most people spend their lives bottled up inside their houses doing the things they hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/the-one-thing-life-has-taught-me-is-that-most-people-spend-their/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [“Madrigals" 1 Like concentric ripples over the water, so in my heart your words. Like a bird that strikes against the wind, so on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/madrigals-1-like-concentric-ripples-over-the-water-so-in-my-heart/) [Federico García Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/at-first-glance-the-rhythm-may-be-confused-with-gaiety-but-when-you/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [I'm hurt, hurt and humiliated beyond endurance, seeing the wheat ripening, the fountains never ceasing to give water, the sheep bearing hundreds oflambs, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/i-m-hurt-hurt-and-humiliated-beyond-endurance-seeing-the-wheat/) [Federico García Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/to-burn-with-desire-and-keep-quiet-about-it-is-the-greatest/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [“La poesía no quiere adeptos, quiere amantes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/la-poes-a-no-quiere-adeptos-quiere-amantes/) [Federico García Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [Oh honey, there's nothing new on this earth when it comes to what men and women do in the dark. First love is when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/oh-honey-there-s-nothing-new-on-this-earth-when-it-comes-to-what-men/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [The terrible, cold, cruel part is Wall Street. Rivers of gold flow there from all over the earth, and death comes with it. There,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/the-terrible-cold-cruel-part-is-wall-street-rivers-of-gold-flow-there/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [I was lucky enough to see with my own eyes the recent stock-market crash, where they lost several million dollars, a rabble of dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/i-was-lucky-enough-to-see-with-my-own-eyes-the-recent-stock-market/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [Just as the light and weightless vegetation of saltpeter floats over the old walls of houses as soon as the owner gets careless, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/just-as-the-light-and-weightless-vegetation-of-saltpeter-floats-over/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [Hour of Stars (1920) The round silence of night, one note on the stave of the infinite. Ripe with lost poems, I step naked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/hour-of-stars-1920-the-round-silence-of-night-one-note-on-the-stave/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [What you wouldn't have suspected lives & trembles in the air. Those treasures of the day you keep just out of reach. These come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/what-you-wouldn-t-have-suspected-lives-trembles-in-the-air-those/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) [Explore all 155 Federico Garcia Lorca quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) ## More Beard quotes > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“Nay! Faith, let me not play a woman! I have a beard coming!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/nay-faith-let-me-not-play-a-woman-i-have-a-beard-coming/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grump-looking old man with a great deal of a long gray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-barman-sidled-toward-them-out-of-a-back-room-he-was-a-grump/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born with a beard. We're quite hairy down in Latin America. We don't have to use sponges when we wash dishes. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devendra-banhart/i-was-born-with-a-beard-we-re-quite-hairy-down-in-latin-america-we/) [Devendra Banhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devendra-banhart/) > [“beard framing a face that had started to show his age, weathered and lined from years”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allibone/beard-framing-a-face-that-had-started-to-show-his-age-weathered-and/) [Richard Allibone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allibone/) > [If I can play, and change the mind of one person about being a Muslim player and having a beard, then I'll feel as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moeen-ali/if-i-can-play-and-change-the-mind-of-one-person-about-being-a-muslim/) [Moeen Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moeen-ali/) > [“Pride is like a beard. It is just keeps growing; the solution?- Shave it every day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ong/pride-is-like-a-beard-it-is-just-keeps-growing-the-solution-shave-it/) [George Ong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ong/) > [“I have no idea why this is. I’m sure somebody with a beard and too much time on their hands would say it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-spalding/i-have-no-idea-why-this-is-i-m-sure-somebody-with-a-beard-and-too/) [Nick Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-spalding/) > [They were bullyin' him, Hermione, 'cause he's so small!" said Hagrid. "Small?" said Hermione. "Small?" "Hermione, I couldn't leave him," said Hagrid, tears now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-were-bullyin-him-hermione-cause-he-s-so-small-said-hagrid-small/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Allow me," said the elf, proffering Gimlet's beard to Frito, who was now sneezing uncontrollably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-harvard-lampoon/allow-me-said-the-elf-proffering-gimlet-s-beard-to-frito-who-was-now/) [The Harvard Lampoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-harvard-lampoon/) > [Never insult a mans beard, you either get thunder or lightning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-robertson/never-insult-a-mans-beard-you-either-get-thunder-or-lightning/) [Si Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-robertson/) > [If we didn't live venturously, plucking the wild goat by the beard, and trembling over precipices, we should never be depressed, I've no doubt;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/if-we-didn-t-live-venturously-plucking-the-wild-goat-by-the-beard-and/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [If I had to choose between the two ways of approaching the deity, I should prefer the existential relational way, to the abstract philosophical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-moore-cross/if-i-had-to-choose-between-the-two-ways-of-approaching-the-deity-i/) [Frank Moore Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-moore-cross/) > [“Shave that Moses beard and you might have better luck. Women don’t want to kiss carpet, you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kody-keplinger/shave-that-moses-beard-and-you-might-have-better-luck-women-don-t/) [Kody Keplinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kody-keplinger/) > [If Elmore Leonard met Jim Thompson down a dark alley at midnight they might emerge a week later with thick beards, bloodshot eyes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/if-elmore-leonard-met-jim-thompson-down-a-dark-alley-at-midnight-they/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) [Browse all 588 Beard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beard/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What matters most has an ultimate metallic quality of death. 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