--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Daylight would have shown a wilderness…" description: "\"“Daylight would have shown a wilderness weathered and blowzy, a wanton that had lived her summer too fast and too greedily. It would have shown the whi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/irvin-s-cobb-22162_approaching-death_daylight-would-have-shown-a-wilderness-w_160856.jpg" --- # Daylight would have shown a wilderness weathered and… ![“Daylight would have shown a wilderness weathered and blowzy, a wanton that had lived her summer too fast and too greedily. It would have shown the white birches pale and shivering in a sudden ague, and here and there an ash or a sumac burning red, like a hectic spot, where the first frosts already…” quote by Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/irvin-s-cobb-22162_approaching-death_daylight-would-have-shown-a-wilderness-w_160856.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/irvin-s-cobb-22162_approaching-death_daylight-would-have-shown-a-wilderness-w_160856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/irvin-s-cobb-22162_approaching-death_daylight-would-have-shown-a-wilderness-w_160856.jpg) > ““Daylight would have shown a wilderness weathered and blowzy, a wanton that had lived her summer too fast and too greedily. It would have shown the white birches pale and shivering in a sudden ague, and here and there an ash or a sumac burning red, like a hectic spot, where the first frosts already had set the marks of their galloping consumption on the cheek of the forest, giving warning of the time when the white plague of the winter would make a massacre of all this present glory and turn the trees to naked skeletons and stretch a bony bare cadaver on every steeper hillside to bleach there until the snows covered things up. But now the kindly nighttime had all signs and threats of approaching death, so that each shriveled speckled leaf, as revealed and traced in the waning light, seemed flawless — a perfect part of a perfect tapestry.”” [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) ## 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 description contrasts harsh winter with delicate night, illustrating nature’s cycle of decay and renewal, and the fleeting perfection of moments. **In simple terms:** Nature shifts from harsh winter to gentle night, showing change and beauty. Key Takeaway Appreciate fleeting beauty amid change. Themes nature seasonality beauty impermanence contrast reflection Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - forest walks - photography - writing - meditation Key Concepts ecology aesthetics temporal cycles Questions to Reflect On - What does the night reveal that day hides? - How can we cherish transient moments? A Different Perspective Winter can destroy and erase beauty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approaching death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approaching-death/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) [Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter/) [Winter is coming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter-is-coming/) ## Related quotes > [“Also, when you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleaknesses that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/also-when-you-are-young-you-think-you-can-predict-the-likely-pains/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“4. Life Consists in Conflict. Life consists in conflict. So long as man remains a social animal he cannot live in isolation. All individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/4-life-consists-in-conflict-life-consists-in-conflict-so-long-as-man/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [The fear of approaching death, which in youth we imagine must cause inquietude to the aged, is very seldom the source of much uneasiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-fear-of-approaching-death-which-in-youth-we-imagine-must-cause/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/although-the-time-of-death-is-approaching-me-i-am-not-afraid-of-dying/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I do not like eating meat because I have seen lambs and pigs killed. I saw and felt their pain. They felt the approaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaslav-nijinsky/i-do-not-like-eating-meat-because-i-have-seen-lambs-and-pigs-killed-i/) [Vaslav Nijinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaslav-nijinsky/) > [When it comes to jump-starting the intricate machinery of recollection, there's nothing more effective than the scent of approaching death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-krist/when-it-comes-to-jump-starting-the-intricate-machinery-of/) [Gary Krist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-krist/) > [The signs that presage growth, so similar, it seems to me, to those in early adolescence: discontent, restlessness, doubt, despair, longing, are interpreted falsely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/the-signs-that-presage-growth-so-similar-it-seems-to-me-to-those-in/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [“why as a society we are often so cruel or oblivious to the elderly. Why do we find it so easy to make jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-thomson/why-as-a-society-we-are-often-so-cruel-or-oblivious-to-the-elderly/) Hugh Thomson > [“I sit, this evening, far away, From all I used to know, And nought reminds my soul to-day Of happy long ago. Unwelcome cares,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-branwell-bront/i-sit-this-evening-far-away-from-all-i-used-to-know-and-nought/) Patrick Branwell Brontë > [When you lose someone, a whole lot of perfectly normal circumstances suddenly take on different meaning. You see it in a different light. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/when-you-lose-someone-a-whole-lot-of-perfectly-normal-circumstances/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [When great loss happens - deaths close to you or your own approaching death - this is an opportunity for stepping completely out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-great-loss-happens-deaths-close-to-you-or-your-own-approaching/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“You were burning in the middle of the worst solar storm our records can remember. (...) Everyone else fled. All your companions and crew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-wright/you-were-burning-in-the-middle-of-the-worst-solar-storm-our-records/) [John C. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-wright/) > [“When children paint, they express their ideas rather than their perception, and when Picasso had recourse to such a technique, then that was his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingo-f-walther/when-children-paint-they-express-their-ideas-rather-than-their/) Ingo F. Walther > [ “\[About the main character approaching death in old age, observed by her husband . . .\] He saw that she had already laid down… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-d-o-brien/about-the-main-character-approaching-death-in-old-age-observed-by-her/) [Michael D. O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-d-o-brien/) > [I have been with many men approaching death; and not one has ever said, �I only regret that I didn't spend more time at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/i-have-been-with-many-men-approaching-death-and-not-one-has-ever-said/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) ## More by Irvin S. Cobb > [Reelfoot is, and has always been, a lake of mystery.In places it is bottomless. Other places the skeletons of the cypress-trees that went down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/reelfoot-is-and-has-always-been-a-lake-of-mystery-in-places-it-is/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [If writers were good businessmen, they'd have too much sense to be writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/if-writers-were-good-businessmen-they-d-have-too-much-sense-to-be/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [You had to hate the Colonel a whole lot to keep from loving him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/you-had-to-hate-the-colonel-a-whole-lot-to-keep-from-loving-him/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [A funeral eulogy is a belated plea for the defense delivered after the evidence is all in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/a-funeral-eulogy-is-a-belated-plea-for-the-defense-delivered-after/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/i-ve-just-learned-about-his-illness-let-s-hope-it-s-nothing-trivial/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that has been discontinued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-for-a-line-of-goods-that-has/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [If a woman likes another woman, she's cordial. If she doesn't like her, she's very cordial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/if-a-woman-likes-another-woman-she-s-cordial-if-she-doesn-t-like-her/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [“By now the moon was well down. Over the tree tops they had seen her cruise across the heavens to strike on a reef…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/by-now-the-moon-was-well-down-over-the-tree-tops-they-had-seen-her/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [A good storyteller is a person with a good memory and hopes other people haven't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/a-good-storyteller-is-a-person-with-a-good-memory-and-hopes-other/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Of all American cities of whatever size the most friendly on preliminary inspection, and on further acquaintance the most likable. The happiest-hearted, the gayest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/of-all-american-cities-of-whatever-size-the-most-friendly-on/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Humor is merely tragedy standing on its head with its pants torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/humor-is-merely-tragedy-standing-on-its-head-with-its-pants-torn/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Men are vain; but they won't mind women working so long as they get smaller wages for the same job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/men-are-vain-but-they-won-t-mind-women-working-so-long-as-they-get/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Golf - a young man's vice and an old man's penance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/golf-a-young-man-s-vice-and-an-old-man-s-penance/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [“He also could feel it in his nostrils like an impalpable soot; the emanations of the millions about them, packed away at night in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/he-also-could-feel-it-in-his-nostrils-like-an-impalpable-soot-the/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [You couldn't tell if she was dressed for an opera or an operation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/you-couldn-t-tell-if-she-was-dressed-for-an-opera-or-an-operation/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) [Explore all 28 Irvin S. Cobb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) ## More Approaching death quotes > [“Also, when you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleaknesses that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/also-when-you-are-young-you-think-you-can-predict-the-likely-pains/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [ “\[About the main character approaching death in old age, observed by her husband . . .\] He saw that she had already laid down… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-d-o-brien/about-the-main-character-approaching-death-in-old-age-observed-by-her/) [Michael D. O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-d-o-brien/) > [“When children paint, they express their ideas rather than their perception, and when Picasso had recourse to such a technique, then that was his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingo-f-walther/when-children-paint-they-express-their-ideas-rather-than-their/) Ingo F. Walther > [“You were burning in the middle of the worst solar storm our records can remember. (...) Everyone else fled. All your companions and crew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-wright/you-were-burning-in-the-middle-of-the-worst-solar-storm-our-records/) [John C. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-wright/) > [When great loss happens - deaths close to you or your own approaching death - this is an opportunity for stepping completely out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-great-loss-happens-deaths-close-to-you-or-your-own-approaching/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you lose someone, a whole lot of perfectly normal circumstances suddenly take on different meaning. You see it in a different light. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/when-you-lose-someone-a-whole-lot-of-perfectly-normal-circumstances/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I sit, this evening, far away, From all I used to know, And nought reminds my soul to-day Of happy long ago. Unwelcome cares,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-branwell-bront/i-sit-this-evening-far-away-from-all-i-used-to-know-and-nought/) Patrick Branwell Brontë > [“why as a society we are often so cruel or oblivious to the elderly. Why do we find it so easy to make jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-thomson/why-as-a-society-we-are-often-so-cruel-or-oblivious-to-the-elderly/) Hugh Thomson > [The signs that presage growth, so similar, it seems to me, to those in early adolescence: discontent, restlessness, doubt, despair, longing, are interpreted falsely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/the-signs-that-presage-growth-so-similar-it-seems-to-me-to-those-in/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [When it comes to jump-starting the intricate machinery of recollection, there's nothing more effective than the scent of approaching death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-krist/when-it-comes-to-jump-starting-the-intricate-machinery-of/) [Gary Krist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-krist/) > [I do not like eating meat because I have seen lambs and pigs killed. I saw and felt their pain. They felt the approaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaslav-nijinsky/i-do-not-like-eating-meat-because-i-have-seen-lambs-and-pigs-killed-i/) [Vaslav Nijinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaslav-nijinsky/) > [Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/although-the-time-of-death-is-approaching-me-i-am-not-afraid-of-dying/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [The fear of approaching death, which in youth we imagine must cause inquietude to the aged, is very seldom the source of much uneasiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-fear-of-approaching-death-which-in-youth-we-imagine-must-cause/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“4. Life Consists in Conflict. Life consists in conflict. So long as man remains a social animal he cannot live in isolation. All individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/4-life-consists-in-conflict-life-consists-in-conflict-so-long-as-man/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [I have been with many men approaching death; and not one has ever said, �I only regret that I didn't spend more time at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/i-have-been-with-many-men-approaching-death-and-not-one-has-ever-said/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) [Browse all 27 Approaching death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approaching-death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Daylight would have shown a wilderness weathered and blowzy, a wanton that had lived her summer too fast and too greedily. 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