--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Until it seems the whole city will be…" description: "\"Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .\" — H..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg" --- # Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold… ![“Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .” quote by Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg) > “Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .” [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid image of a city overwhelmed by gold pollen and massive bees, suggesting both beauty and danger of abundance. **In simple terms:** City swarmed by gold pollen and huge bees. Key Takeaway Recognize when abundance becomes overwhelming. Themes beauty danger overabundance Mood awe foreboding Type poetic descriptive When to use this quote - city festivals - environmental warnings - creative writing - visual arts Key Concepts symbolism urban decay environmental metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What does the gold pollen symbolize for you? - How can we balance beauty and risk in urban life? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize ecological collapse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bees/) [Bells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bells/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Lilies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lilies/) [Venice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venice/) [Weight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weight/) ## Related quotes > [“was being plundered”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/was-being-plundered/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [They had bombed and burned,killed and maimed,plundered and looted.Now they had come to claim the land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/they-had-bombed-and-burned-killed-and-maimed-plundered-and-looted-now/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [What have they done to the earth? What have they done to our fair sister? Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/what-have-they-done-to-the-earth-what-have-they-done-to-our-fair/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/they-have-plundered-the-world-stripping-naked-the-land-in-their-2/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [“He plundered her mouth with his tongue, inciting a rush of desire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-longley/he-plundered-her-mouth-with-his-tongue-inciting-a-rush-of-desire/) Barbara Longley > [You British plundered half the world for your own profit. Let's not pass it off as the Age of Enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-chayefsky/you-british-plundered-half-the-world-for-your-own-profit-let-s-not/) [Paddy Chayefsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-chayefsky/) > [“If you do not know the power of his indwelling life in you, shaping your personality, healing your brokenness, enabling you to live as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/if-you-do-not-know-the-power-of-his-indwelling-life-in-you-shaping/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [“When at last he reached home, eleven and a half years after setting off, and having achieved nothing, he discovered that his relatives had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/when-at-last-he-reached-home-eleven-and-a-half-years-after-setting/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [With the plundered people transferring their energies into relaxed and receptive thoughts, degradation and lust for power produced art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-weiss/with-the-plundered-people-transferring-their-energies-into-relaxed/) [Peter Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-weiss/) > [Airport expansion is just one example of how our planet is being plundered for profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcdonnell/airport-expansion-is-just-one-example-of-how-our-planet-is-being/) [John McDonnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcdonnell/) > [“Remember that you're far back in the procession; remember that a whole army corps has laid siege to her, that she's been laid waste,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/remember-that-you-re-far-back-in-the-procession-remember-that-a-whole/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Often the masses are plundered and do not know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/often-the-masses-are-plundered-and-do-not-know-it/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies-than-by-my-friends/) [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) > [ Gradually the magic of the island \[Corfu\] settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-durrell/gradually-the-magic-of-the-island-corfu-settled-over-us-as-gently-and/) [Gerald Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-durrell/) > [We have domesticated crops over a very long period of time, like tens of thousands of years. And crops get - seeds get carried.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-fedoroff/we-have-domesticated-crops-over-a-very-long-period-of-time-like-tens/) [Nina Fedoroff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-fedoroff/) ## More by Hilda Doolittle > [“Sheltered Garden" I have had enough. I gasp for breath. Every way ends, every road, every foot-path leads at last to the hill-crest-- then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/sheltered-garden-i-have-had-enough-i-gasp-for-breath-every-way-ends/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [That way of inspiration is always open, and open to everyone; it acts as go-between, interpreter, it explains symbols of the past in to-day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/that-way-of-inspiration-is-always-open-and-open-to-everyone-it-acts/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Could beauty be beaten out, O youth the cities have sent to strike at each other's strength, it is you who have kept her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/could-beauty-be-beaten-out-o-youth-the-cities-have-sent-to-strike-at/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The Christos-image is most difficult to disentangle from its art-craft junk-shop paint-and-plaster medieval jumble of pain-worship and death-symbol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-christos-image-is-most-difficult-to-disentangle-from-its-art/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [When you would think, "what was the use of it," you'll remember something you can't grasp and you'll wonder what it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/when-you-would-think-what-was-the-use-of-it-you-ll-remember-something/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The quivering of Psyche's butterflies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-quivering-of-psyche-s-butterflies/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Thoth, Hermes, the stylus, the palette, the pen, the quill endure, though our books are a floor of smouldering ash under our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/thoth-hermes-the-stylus-the-palette-the-pen-the-quill-endure-though/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [My eye-balls are glass, my limbs marble, my face fixed in its marble mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/my-eye-balls-are-glass-my-limbs-marble-my-face-fixed-in-its-marble/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The things I have are nameless, old and true; they may not be named; few may live and know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-things-i-have-are-nameless-old-and-true-they-may-not-be-named-few/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Soft are the hands of Love, but what soft hands clutched at the thorny ground, scratched like a small white ferret or foraging whippet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/soft-are-the-hands-of-love-but-what-soft-hands-clutched-at-the-thorny/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The elixir of life, the philosopher's stone is yours if you surrender sterile logic, trivial reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-elixir-of-life-the-philosopher-s-stone-is-yours-if-you-surrender/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Alas, day, you brought light, You trailed splendour You showed us god: I salute you, most precious one, But I go to a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/alas-day-you-brought-light-you-trailed-splendour-you-showed-us-god-i/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Let Love step down, open the clasped hands, forfeit the thorny crown, retrieve the garment that was whole, body and spirit one, spirit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/let-love-step-down-open-the-clasped-hands-forfeit-the-thorny-crown/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [(Those women whom the distaff no longer claims nor spun cloth) driven made, mad, mad by Bacchus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/those-women-whom-the-distaff-no-longer-claims-nor-spun-cloth-driven/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Take what the old-church found in Mithra's tomb, candle and script and bell, take what the new-church spat upon and broke and shattered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/take-what-the-old-church-found-in-mithra-s-tomb-candle-and-script-and/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) [Explore all 95 Hilda Doolittle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## More Bees quotes > [Those who have not been stung will hardly fear a bee the same as those who have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/those-who-have-not-been-stung-will-hardly-fear-a-bee-the-same-as/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Arouse a bee and it will come at you with the force of a dragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takeda-shingen/arouse-a-bee-and-it-will-come-at-you-with-the-force-of-a-dragon/) [Takeda Shingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takeda-shingen/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [You see, years ago I was just an ordinary bee minding my own business, smelling flowers all day, and occasionally picking up part-time work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/you-see-years-ago-i-was-just-an-ordinary-bee-minding-my-own-business/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [As the bee collecteth honey with great zest, so the fool collecteth wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir/as-the-bee-collecteth-honey-with-great-zest-so-the-fool-collecteth/) [Kabir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir/) > [It is hard to imagine a world without bees. It would be even harder to live in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/it-is-hard-to-imagine-a-world-without-bees-it-would-be-even-harder-to/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) > [When I heard that the bees were in trouble, the fact that they're disappearing and not coming back to the hive, which is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-schwartzberg/when-i-heard-that-the-bees-were-in-trouble-the-fact-that-they-re/) [Louie Schwartzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-schwartzberg/) > [Precise, graceful, and generous, the poems in SuperLoop, seem to be born out of a deep, careful attention and a profound compassion. Sometimes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-limon/precise-graceful-and-generous-the-poems-in-superloop-seem-to-be-born/) [Ada Limon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-limon/) > [The little bee returns with evening's gloom, To join her comrades in the braided hive, Where, housed beside their might honey-comb, They dream their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tennyson-turner/the-little-bee-returns-with-evening-s-gloom-to-join-her-comrades-in/) [Charles Tennyson Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tennyson-turner/) > [“This time of year, the purple blooms were busy with life- not just the bees, but butterflies and ladybugs, skippers and emerald-toned beetles, flitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wiggs/this-time-of-year-the-purple-blooms-were-busy-with-life-not-just-the/) [Susan Wiggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wiggs/) > [“Bees chase flowers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-l-shreve/bees-chase-flowers/) Tracy L. Shreve > [My banks they are furnish'd with bees, Whose murmur invites one to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/my-banks-they-are-furnish-d-with-bees-whose-murmur-invites-one-to/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/there-are-certain-pursuits-which-if-not-wholly-poetic-and-true-do-at/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Bee Gees are a fly-by-night sort of group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gibb/the-bee-gees-are-a-fly-by-night-sort-of-group/) [Barry Gibb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gibb/) > [“I don't like to hear cut and dried sermons. No—when I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-to-hear-cut-and-dried-sermons-no-when-i-hear-a-man/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 770 Bees quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bees/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilda Doolittle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bees" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/hilda-doolittle-7061_bees_until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-co_269285.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered…” — Hilda Doolittle", "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": "Hilda Doolittle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Until it seems the whole city...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/#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 } } ] } ```