--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We strove for a name, while the light of…" description: "\"“We strove for a name, while the light of the lamps burnt thin and the outer dawn came in, a ghost, the last at the feast or the first, to sit within w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg" --- # We strove for a name, while the light of the lamps burnt… ![“We strove for a name, while the light of the lamps burnt thin and the outer dawn came in, a ghost, the last at the feast or the first, to sit within with the two that remained to quibble in flowers and verse over a girl's name.” quote by Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg) > ““We strove for a name, while the light of the lamps burnt thin and the outer dawn came in, a ghost, the last at the feast or the first, to sit within with the two that remained to quibble in flowers and verse over a girl's name.”” [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. The speaker reflects on the fleeting nature of fame and identity amidst the dimming light of life, using metaphorical imagery of lamps and dawn. **In simple terms:** Fame fades as life wanes. Key Takeaway Cherish authentic self over fleeting fame. Themes identity fame transience art memory Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal reflection - celebration of legacy - naming ceremonies Key Concepts existentialism symbolism literary metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How does the desire for recognition shape your actions? - What does “the last at the feast” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective The poetic style may obscure practical relevance for everyday decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Came Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/came-ghost-2710705/) [Dawn Came](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dawn-came-558538/) [Feast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feast/) [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Ghost Feast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost-feast-2710706/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“Dawn came in wisps of pink against a blue-gray sky. Through the trees, shafts of misty sunlight formed luminous motes of warmth along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/dawn-came-in-wisps-of-pink-against-a-blue-gray-sky-through-the-trees/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [“Sweet it was, sweet and gone too soon. Dawn came cruel, a dagger of light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/sweet-it-was-sweet-and-gone-too-soon-dawn-came-cruel-a-dagger-of-light/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Dawn came and matters were worse for it. Because now, emerging from the darkness, I could see, what before I had only felt, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/dawn-came-and-matters-were-worse-for-it-because-now-emerging-from-the/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I was afraid that if I closed my eyes, I might never open them again, only … well … dawn came after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/i-was-afraid-that-if-i-closed-my-eyes-i-might-never-open-them-again/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [The dawn came - not the flaming sky that promises storm, but a golden dawn of infinite promise. The birds came flying up out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-goudge/the-dawn-came-not-the-flaming-sky-that-promises-storm-but-a-golden/) [Elizabeth Goudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-goudge/) > [Dor woke again as dawn came. The sun had somehow gotten around to the east, where the land was, and dried off so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piers-anthony/dor-woke-again-as-dawn-came-the-sun-had-somehow-gotten-around-to-the/) [Piers Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piers-anthony/) > [Dawn came on us like a betrayer; it seemed as though the new sun rose as an ally of our enemies to assist in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/dawn-came-on-us-like-a-betrayer-it-seemed-as-though-the-new-sun-rose/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [My great day came and went, I do not know how. Because it did not pass through dawn when it came, nor through dusk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/my-great-day-came-and-went-i-do-not-know-how-because-it-did-not-pass/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [“Sometimes I felt the whole world was converging on this little room. And as I became more intoxicated and frustrated I'd throw open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/sometimes-i-felt-the-whole-world-was-converging-on-this-little-room/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“Finally the dawn came, the sky fringed with pink, and the sun bright as a coin in a spill of rising red.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/finally-the-dawn-came-the-sky-fringed-with-pink-and-the-sun-bright-as/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [An intelligently planned feast is like a summing up of the whole world, where each part is represented by its envoys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/an-intelligently-planned-feast-is-like-a-summing-up-of-the-whole/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [“We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hatmaker/we-don-t-see-the-new-testament-church-hoarding-the-feast-for/) [Jen Hatmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hatmaker/) > [“One man's famine makes another man's feast.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kroc/one-man-s-famine-makes-another-man-s-feast/) [Ray Kroc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kroc/) > [Tears on the mauseoleum floor. Blood stains the coliseum doors. Lies on the lips of a priest. Thanksgiving disguised as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/tears-on-the-mauseoleum-floor-blood-stains-the-coliseum-doors-lies-on/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## 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/) > [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 . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/) [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/) [Explore all 95 Hilda Doolittle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## More Feast quotes > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Tears on the mauseoleum floor. Blood stains the coliseum doors. Lies on the lips of a priest. Thanksgiving disguised as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/tears-on-the-mauseoleum-floor-blood-stains-the-coliseum-doors-lies-on/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [“One man's famine makes another man's feast.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kroc/one-man-s-famine-makes-another-man-s-feast/) [Ray Kroc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kroc/) > [“We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hatmaker/we-don-t-see-the-new-testament-church-hoarding-the-feast-for/) [Jen Hatmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hatmaker/) > [An intelligently planned feast is like a summing up of the whole world, where each part is represented by its envoys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/an-intelligently-planned-feast-is-like-a-summing-up-of-the-whole/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/bear-in-mind-that-you-should-conduct-yourself-in-life-as-at-a-feast/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“They lurk in the cold and dark.Hungry and,wicked,they wait for their one chance to devour the weak on Sorry Night.Then the vours feast on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-holt/they-lurk-in-the-cold-and-dark-hungry-and-wicked-they-wait-for-their/) [Simon Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-holt/) > [I think I won the Feast or Fired briefcase every time I was in the match.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-drake/i-think-i-won-the-feast-or-fired-briefcase-every-time-i-was-in-the/) [Eli Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-drake/) > [“We come to mistake the crumbs of mercy for the feast of love”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/we-come-to-mistake-the-crumbs-of-mercy-for-the-feast-of-love/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [A dinner! How horrible! I am to be made the pretext for killing all those wretched animals and birds, and fish! Thank you for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-dinner-how-horrible-i-am-to-be-made-the-pretext-for-killing-all/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Cheerful looks make every dish a feast, and it is that which crowns a welcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/cheerful-looks-make-every-dish-a-feast-and-it-is-that-which-crowns-a/) [Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/) > [A civil guest Will no more talk all, than eat all the feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/a-civil-guest-will-no-more-talk-all-than-eat-all-the-feast/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/life-is-not-a-spectacle-or-a-feast-it-is-a-predicament/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“My books are a word feast.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-r-lopez/my-books-are-a-word-feast/) [Lori R. Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-r-lopez/) > [“The next forty minutes are a festival of soul eating. I know many immigrant families incorporate their traditional dishes into the Thanksgiving feast, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-ballis/the-next-forty-minutes-are-a-festival-of-soul-eating-i-know-many/) [Stacey Ballis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-ballis/) [Browse all 136 Feast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We strove for a name, while the light of the lamps burnt thin and the outer dawn came in, a ghost, the last at the feast or the first, to sit within with the two that remained to quibble in flowers and verse over a girl's name.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilda Doolittle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of-the-lamps-burnt-thin-and-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Feast" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of-the-lamps-burnt-thin-and-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/hilda-doolittle-7061_poetry_we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of_1888366.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We strove for a name, while the light of the lamps burnt thin and the outer dawn came in, a ghost, the last…” — 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": "“We strove for a name, while...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of-the-lamps-burnt-thin-and-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/we-strove-for-a-name-while-the-light-of-the-lamps-burnt-thin-and-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 } } ] } ```