--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The desolation and terror of, for the…" description: "\"The desolation and terror of, for the first time, realizing that the mother can lose you, or you her, and your own abysmal loneliness and helplessness ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg" --- # The desolation and terror of, for the first time… ![“The desolation and terror of, for the first time, realizing that the mother can lose you, or you her, and your own abysmal loneliness and helplessness without her.” quote by Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg) > “The desolation and terror of, for the first time, realizing that the mother can lose you, or you her, and your own abysmal loneliness and helplessness without her.” [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Realizing a mother’s potential loss triggers deep loneliness and helplessness. **In simple terms:** Losing a mother feels terrifyingly lonely. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address feelings of abandonment. Themes loss loneliness family vulnerability Mood somber introspective Type emotional literary When to use this quote - parental illness - death - estrangement Key Concepts maternal bond existential fear Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with fear of losing loved ones? - What supports help mitigate loneliness? A Different Perspective Grief may be compounded by fear of being forgotten. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desolation/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helplessness/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Loneliness Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness-helplessness-5817851/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother Lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-lose-2687896/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Realizing Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing-mother-2705438/) [Terror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terror/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Three Plagues of nursing home existence: boredom, loneliness, and helplessness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/three-plagues-of-nursing-home-existence-boredom-loneliness-and/) [Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/) > [Having children can smooth the relationship, too. Mother and daughter are now equals. That is hard to imagine, even harder to accept, for among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/having-children-can-smooth-the-relationship-too-mother-and-daughter/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“Realizing your own mother was incapable of truly seeing you—of loving you for who you are rather than as an extension of herself—is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-franke/realizing-your-own-mother-was-incapable-of-truly-seeing-you-of-loving/) [Shari Franke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-franke/) > [No mother should lose her child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-hood/no-mother-should-lose-her-child/) [Ann Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-hood/) > [“What does it mean when society says your unfit to be a mother? Are there circumstances to be factored in before that judgement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schroff/what-does-it-mean-when-society-says-your-unfit-to-be-a-mother-are/) [Laura Schroff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schroff/) > [“But the knowing was visceral: if I became a mother, I’d lose myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bolick/but-the-knowing-was-visceral-if-i-became-a-mother-i-d-lose-myself/) [Kate Bolick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bolick/) > [Man's life is thought, And he, despite his terror, cannot cease Ravening through century after century, Ravening, raging, and uprooting that he may come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/man-s-life-is-thought-and-he-despite-his-terror-cannot-cease-ravening/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/all-consolation-that-does-not-come-from-god-is-but-desolation-when/) [Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/) > [The fountain of my heart dried up within me,-- With nought that loved me, and with nought to love, I stood upon the desert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-robert-maturin/the-fountain-of-my-heart-dried-up-within-me-with-nought-that-loved-me/) [Charles Robert Maturin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-robert-maturin/) > [The Death of the contemporary forms of social order ought to gladden rather than trouble the soul. Yet what is frightening is that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/the-death-of-the-contemporary-forms-of-social-order-ought-to-gladden/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [There are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspires melancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, dreary moorlands, or the desolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/there-are-houses-in-certain-provincial-towns-whose-aspect-inspires/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [They create a desolation and call it peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calgacus/they-create-a-desolation-and-call-it-peace/) [Calgacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calgacus/) > [“Then think of fire, It’s laughter, the music of splintering beams and glass, The flames reaching through the second story of a house almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-levis/then-think-of-fire-it-s-laughter-the-music-of-splintering-beams-and/) [Larry Levis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-levis/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“A sense of desolation settled within me: a cold, slimy stone lodged under my lungs. There was nothing happy about the woods, I thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-davidson/a-sense-of-desolation-settled-within-me-a-cold-slimy-stone-lodged/) [Craig Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-davidson/) ## More by Francis Thompson > [Babies breathe a lot more rapidly than adults do, and what's more, they're also growing quickly and so they're absorbing lots more into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/babies-breathe-a-lot-more-rapidly-than-adults-do-and-what-s-more-they/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [And left the flushed print in a poppy there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/and-left-the-flushed-print-in-a-poppy-there/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/look-for-me-in-the-nurseries-of-heaven/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [“The fairest things have fleetest end, Their scent survives their close: But the rose's scent is bitterness To her who loved the rose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/the-fairest-things-have-fleetest-end-their-scent-survives-their-close-2/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [“Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee Save Me, save only Me? All which I took from thee I did but take, Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/whom-wilt-thou-find-to-love-ignoble-thee-save-me-save-only-me-all/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [“ A Corymbus for Autumn How are the veins of thee, Autumn, laden? Umbered juices, And pulpèd oozes Pappy out of the cherry-bruises, Froth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/a-corymbus-for-autumn-how-are-the-veins-of-thee-autumn-laden-umbered/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [But lilies, stolen from grassy mold, No more curled state unfold, Translated to a vase of gold; In burning throne though they keep still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/but-lilies-stolen-from-grassy-mold-no-more-curled-state-unfold/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [Happiness is the shadow of things past, Wich fools still take for that which is to be!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/happiness-is-the-shadow-of-things-past-wich-fools-still-take-for-that/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [An atheist is a man who believes himself an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/an-atheist-is-a-man-who-believes-himself-an-accident/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [Oh invisible, we view thee, O world intangible, we touch thee, o world unknowable, we know thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/oh-invisible-we-view-thee-o-world-intangible-we-touch-thee-o-world/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [“I fled Him down the nights and down the days I fled Him down the arches of the years I fled Him down the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/i-fled-him-down-the-nights-and-down-the-days-i-fled-him-down-the/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [The devil doesn't know how to sing, only how to howl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/the-devil-doesn-t-know-how-to-sing-only-how-to-howl/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [Agnosticism is the everlasting perhaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/agnosticism-is-the-everlasting-perhaps/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [Baby smiled, mother wailed, Earthward while the sweetling sailed; Mother smiled, baby wailed, When to earth came Viola.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/baby-smiled-mother-wailed-earthward-while-the-sweetling-sailed-mother/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [In all change, well looked into, the germinal good out-veils the apparent ill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/in-all-change-well-looked-into-the-germinal-good-out-veils-the/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) [Explore all 31 Francis Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) ## More Desolation quotes > [“A sense of desolation settled within me: a cold, slimy stone lodged under my lungs. There was nothing happy about the woods, I thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-davidson/a-sense-of-desolation-settled-within-me-a-cold-slimy-stone-lodged/) [Craig Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-davidson/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“Then think of fire, It’s laughter, the music of splintering beams and glass, The flames reaching through the second story of a house almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-levis/then-think-of-fire-it-s-laughter-the-music-of-splintering-beams-and/) [Larry Levis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-levis/) > [They create a desolation and call it peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calgacus/they-create-a-desolation-and-call-it-peace/) [Calgacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calgacus/) > [There are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspires melancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, dreary moorlands, or the desolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/there-are-houses-in-certain-provincial-towns-whose-aspect-inspires/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The Death of the contemporary forms of social order ought to gladden rather than trouble the soul. Yet what is frightening is that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/the-death-of-the-contemporary-forms-of-social-order-ought-to-gladden/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [The fountain of my heart dried up within me,-- With nought that loved me, and with nought to love, I stood upon the desert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-robert-maturin/the-fountain-of-my-heart-dried-up-within-me-with-nought-that-loved-me/) [Charles Robert Maturin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-robert-maturin/) > [All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/all-consolation-that-does-not-come-from-god-is-but-desolation-when/) [Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/) > [“I am back in my beloved city. The scene of desolation fills my eyes with tears. At every step my distress and agitation increases.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/i-am-back-in-my-beloved-city-the-scene-of-desolation-fills-my-eyes/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [“The effect of this cannot be understood without being there. The beauty of it cannot be understood, either, and when you see beauty in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/the-effect-of-this-cannot-be-understood-without-being-there-the/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [Stand in despair anywhere old-growth forest has been clear-felled. All life has been replaced by blackened, poisoned desolation. Animals and birds have either fled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cundall/stand-in-despair-anywhere-old-growth-forest-has-been-clear-felled-all/) [Peter Cundall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cundall/) > [“Upon him I will visit famine and a fire, Till all around him desolation rings And all the demons in the outer dark Look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/upon-him-i-will-visit-famine-and-a-fire-till-all-around-him/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Glory falls around us as we sob a dirge of desolation on the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/glory-falls-around-us-as-we-sob-a-dirge-of-desolation-on-the-cross/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Poetry has always mattered, through human history, through all kinds of cultures, all kinds of violence and human desolation, as well as periods of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/poetry-has-always-mattered-through-human-history-through-all-kinds-of/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-a-time-when-one-s-spirit-is-subdued-and-sad-one-knows-not-why/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Browse all 198 Desolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The desolation and terror of, for the first time, realizing that the mother can lose you, or you her, and your own abysmal loneliness and helplessness without her.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Francis Thompson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-first-time-realizing-that-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desolation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-first-time-realizing-that-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/francis-thompson-19986_desolation_the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-fir_2371944.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The desolation and terror of, for the first time, realizing that the mother can lose you, or you her, and…” — Francis Thompson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Francis Thompson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The desolation and terror of, for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-first-time-realizing-that-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/the-desolation-and-terror-of-for-the-first-time-realizing-that-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```