Color Quote by James Joyce
““The phrase and the day and the scene harmonized in a chord. Words. Was it their colours? He allowed them to glow and fade, hue after hue: sunrise gold, the russet and green of apple orchards, azure of waves, the greyfringed fleece of clouds. No it was not their colours: it was the poise and balance of the period itself. Did he then love the rhythmic rise and fall of words better than their associations of legend and colour? Or was it that, being as weak of sight as he was shy of mind, he drew less pleasure from the reflection of the glowing sensible world through the prism of a language manycoloured and richly storied than from the contemplation of an inner world of individual emotions mirrored perfectly in a lucid supple periodic prose?””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Ulysses, 1922
The harmony of language lies in its rhythm and balance, not just its vivid imagery.
In simple terms: Words resonate through structure, not only color.
Key Takeaway
Value the cadence of prose.
Themes
literature
language
artistry
Mood
introspective
appreciative
Type
literary
analytical
When to use this quote
- writing
- reading
- critical analysis
Key Concepts
rhythm
balance
poetics
Questions to Reflect On
- How does rhythm shape your reading experience?
- Can you feel the music in a paragraph?
A Different Perspective
Focusing solely on imagery may miss deeper musicality of text.
![“Men who read a lot have a more sensitive disposition, added Fowler. [...] I did not know what to say to this. Maybe reading is a sort of curse is all I mean, concluded Fowler. Maybe it's better for a man to stay inside his own mind. Amen, I felt like saying, although I do not know why.” quote by Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe3/dan-simmons-968_books_men-who-read-a-lot-have-a-more-sensitive_159615.jpg)
