--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And at night the river flows, it bears…" description: "\"“And at night the river flows, it bears pale stars on the holy water, some sink like veils, some show like fish, the great moon that once was rose now ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg" --- # And at night the river flows, it bears pale stars on the… ![“And at night the river flows, it bears pale stars on the holy water, some sink like veils, some show like fish, the great moon that once was rose now high like a blazing milk flails its white reflection vertical and deep in the dark surgey mass wall river's grinding bed push. As in a sad dream…” quote by Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg) > ““And at night the river flows, it bears pale stars on the holy water, some sink like veils, some show like fish, the great moon that once was rose now high like a blazing milk flails its white reflection vertical and deep in the dark surgey mass wall river's grinding bed push. As in a sad dream, under the streetlamp, by pocky unpaved holes in dirt, the father James Cassidy comes home with lunchpail and lantern, limping, redfaced, and turns in for supper and sleep. Now a door slams. The kids have rushed out for the last play, the mothers are planning and slamming in kitchens, you can hear it out in swish leaf orchards, on popcorn swings, in the million-foliaged sweet wafted night of sighs, songs, shushes. A thousand things up and down the street, deep, lovely, dangerous, aureating, breathing, throbbing like stars; a whistle, a faint yell; the flow of Lowell over rooftops beyond; the bark on the river, the wild goose of the night yakking, ducking in the sand and sparkle; the ululating lap and purl and lovely mystery on the shore, dark, always dark the river's cunning unseen lips, murmuring kisses, eating night, stealing sand, sneaky. 'Mag-gie!' the kids are calling under the railroad bridge where they've been swimming. The freight train still rumbles over a hundred cars long, the engine threw the flare on little white bathers, little Picasso horses of the night as dense and tragic in the gloom comes my soul looking for what was there that disappeared and left, lost, down a path--the gloom of love. Maggie, the girl I loved.”” [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) ## 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, nocturnal scene blends ordinary life with surreal imagery, reflecting longing, memory, and the flow of time. **In simple terms:** Nighttime life feels both ordinary and magical, filled with longing and memory. Key Takeaway Embrace the beauty in everyday moments. Themes night memory longing surrealism family urban life Mood melancholy dreamy reflective Type literary poetic descriptive When to use this quote - late‑night walks - family dinners - urban exploration - creative writing - reflection Key Concepts existentialism poetry urban narrative Questions to Reflect On - What emotions does this scene evoke? - How does the river symbolize life’s flow? A Different Perspective The dense, poetic style may obscure clear meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-river-3949358/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Freight Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freight-train/) [Holy water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy-water/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Night River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-river-2850778/) [Night Sighs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-sighs-5104258/) [River Flows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river-flows-424531/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) ## Related quotes > [“Here at the creek mouth the fields run on to the river, the mud deltaed and baring out of its rich alluvial harbored bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/here-at-the-creek-mouth-the-fields-run-on-to-the-river-the-mud/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Now a door slams. The kids have rushed out for the last play, the mothers are planning and slamming in kitchens, you can hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/now-a-door-slams-the-kids-have-rushed-out-for-the-last-play-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“The pillow looked astonished, wondering what ended the late night river that used to run through it, but only he knows that she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismaaciil-c-ubax/the-pillow-looked-astonished-wondering-what-ended-the-late-night/) [Ismaaciil C. Ubax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismaaciil-c-ubax/) > [I have taken my Kayak, Up and down, Endless Rivers, Giggling as I paddle, Explore, Experience. There is but one River, I shall never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/i-have-taken-my-kayak-up-and-down-endless-rivers-giggling-as-i-paddle/) [Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/) > [I've always assumed there's a dark river flowing beneath my fans' desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-morrissey/i-ve-always-assumed-there-s-a-dark-river-flowing-beneath-my-fans/) [Steven Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-morrissey/) > [“He walks toward the river, placing his feet carefully. His suit is too warm and tight. He reaches the water’s edge. There is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/he-walks-toward-the-river-placing-his-feet-carefully-his-suit-is-too/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/how-could-drops-of-water-know-themselves-to-be-a-river-yet-the-river/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“As the river that flows freely, your mind drives me to look at the cages that I have built around me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-wolf/as-the-river-that-flows-freely-your-mind-drives-me-to-look-at-the/) [J.WOLF](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-wolf/) > [“Time is like the Mississippi River. It only flows in one direction. You can never go back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-woods-fisher/time-is-like-the-mississippi-river-it-only-flows-in-one-direction-you/) [Suzanne Woods Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-woods-fisher/) > [How will you find good? It is not a thing of choice; it is a river that flows from the foot of the Invisible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/how-will-you-find-good-it-is-not-a-thing-of-choice-it-is-a-river-that/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There's a river somewhere that flows through the lives of everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberta-flack/there-s-a-river-somewhere-that-flows-through-the-lives-of-everyone/) [Roberta Flack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberta-flack/) > [As the river flows gently to the sea darling so we go some things were meant to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ub40/as-the-river-flows-gently-to-the-sea-darling-so-we-go-some-things/) [Ub40](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ub40/) > [Like a river flows surely to the sea/Darling so it goes/Some things are meant to be/Take my hand, take my whole life too/For I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-a-river-flows-surely-to-the-sea-darling-so-it-goes-some-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Night and day the river flows. If time is the mind of space, the River is the soul of the desert. Brave boatmen come,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/night-and-day-the-river-flows-if-time-is-the-mind-of-space-the-river/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [The river is motion, turmoil, rage. As the river flows, it wonders what it would be like to be so still, to take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kekla-magoon/the-river-is-motion-turmoil-rage-as-the-river-flows-it-wonders-what/) [Kekla Magoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kekla-magoon/) ## More by Jack Kerouac > [Bein Crazy is the least of my worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bein-crazy-is-the-least-of-my-worries/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [But, outside of being a sweet little girl, she was awfully dumb and capable of doing horrible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/but-outside-of-being-a-sweet-little-girl-she-was-awfully-dumb-and/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“For when you realized that God is Everything you know that you've got to love everything no matter how bad it is, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/for-when-you-realized-that-god-is-everything-you-know-that-you-ve-got/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“I'm an idealist who has outgrown my idealism I have nothing to do the rest of my life but do it and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-an-idealist-who-has-outgrown-my-idealism-i-have-nothing-to-do-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Most of them were running away from something―usually the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/most-of-them-were-running-away-from-something-usually-the-law/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Non lo so, non importa e non fa nessuna differenza.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/non-lo-so-non-importa-e-non-fa-nessuna-differenza/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“And in the flush of the first few days of joy I confidently tell myself (not expecting what I'll do in three weeks only)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-in-the-flush-of-the-first-few-days-of-joy-i-confidently-tell/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I want a blaze of light to flame in me forever in a timeless, dear love of everything. And why should I pretend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-want-a-blaze-of-light-to-flame-in-me-forever-in-a-timeless-dear/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“For the next week that was all I heard - manana, a lovely word and one that probably means heaven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/for-the-next-week-that-was-all-i-heard-manana-a-lovely-word-and-one/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“O how wonderful life is, how miraculous, God made this and God made that", "how do you know he doesn't hate what He did:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/o-how-wonderful-life-is-how-miraculous-god-made-this-and-god-made/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Notoriety and public confession in the literary form is a frazzler of the heart you were born with, believe me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/notoriety-and-public-confession-in-the-literary-form-is-a-frazzler-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I promise I shall never give up, and that I'll die yelling & laughing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-promise-i-shall-never-give-up-and-that-i-ll-die-yelling-laughing/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“The hot water pools are steaming, Fagan and Monsanto and the others are all sitting peacefully up to their necks, they're all naked, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-hot-water-pools-are-steaming-fagan-and-monsanto-and-the-others/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) [Explore all 936 Jack Kerouac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And at night the river flows, it bears pale stars on the holy water, some sink like veils, some show like fish, the great moon that once was rose now high like a blazing milk flails its white reflection vertical and deep in the dark surgey mass wall river's grinding bed push. As in a sad dream, under the streetlamp, by pocky unpaved holes in dirt, the father James Cassidy comes home with lunchpail and lantern, limping, redfaced, and turns in for supper and sleep. Now a door slams. The kids have rushed out for the last play, the mothers are planning and slamming in kitchens, you can hear it out in swish leaf orchards, on popcorn swings, in the million-foliaged sweet wafted night of sighs, songs, shushes. A thousand things up and down the street, deep, lovely, dangerous, aureating, breathing, throbbing like stars; a whistle, a faint yell; the flow of Lowell over rooftops beyond; the bark on the river, the wild goose of the night yakking, ducking in the sand and sparkle; the ululating lap and purl and lovely mystery on the shore, dark, always dark the river's cunning unseen lips, murmuring kisses, eating night, stealing sand, sneaky. 'Mag-gie!' the kids are calling under the railroad bridge where they've been swimming. The freight train still rumbles over a hundred cars long, the engine threw the flare on little white bathers, little Picasso horses of the night as dense and tragic in the gloom comes my soul looking for what was there that disappeared and left, lost, down a path--the gloom of love. Maggie, the girl I loved.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Kerouac" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pale-stars-on-the-holy-water/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dreams" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pale-stars-on-the-holy-water/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jack-kerouac-182_dreams_and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pa_1450631.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And at night the river flows, it bears pale stars on the holy water, some sink like veils, some show like…” — Jack Kerouac", "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": "Jack Kerouac", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And at night the river flows,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pale-stars-on-the-holy-water/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-at-night-the-river-flows-it-bears-pale-stars-on-the-holy-water/#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 } } ] } ```