--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My tears will keep no channel, know no…" description: "\"My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their streams, but like the waves, their cause, run with disturbance till they swallow me as a des..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg" --- # My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their… ![“My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their streams, but like the waves, their cause, run with disturbance till they swallow me as a description of his misery.” quote by John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg) > “My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their streams, but like the waves, their cause, run with disturbance till they swallow me as a description of his misery.” [John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) ## 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 describes uncontrolled grief that flows without direction, eventually overwhelming them. **In simple terms:** Uncontrolled grief overwhelms. Key Takeaway Emotion can become all‑consuming. Themes grief loss overwhelm nature metaphor emotional turbulence Mood melancholy despair Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - after a personal loss - during a breakup - in mourning - facing failure Key Concepts emotional expression metaphor human vulnerability Practical Applications - poetry writing - therapy sessions Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate grief is becoming destructive? - How can one regain control over overwhelming emotions? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Waves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waves/) ## Related quotes > [The beauty of ideas is that they are like waves in the ocean and they connect with things that came before them, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/the-beauty-of-ideas-is-that-they-are-like-waves-in-the-ocean-and-they/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [“Like waves crashing beneath the feet of two lovers fluctuating, oscillating from passion to compassion and back to passion until both are integrated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/like-waves-crashing-beneath-the-feet-of-two-lovers-fluctuating/) VD > [“Arms are around me, hands in my hair, lips moving across my cheek, over my neck, and I’m thinking about poetry, about Edgar Allan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-cross/arms-are-around-me-hands-in-my-hair-lips-moving-across-my-cheek-over/) [Julie Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-cross/) > [“There was something breathtakingly beautiful about the life he was describing... 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-l-wilson/) > [Just like the waves down by the shore Your gonna keep on coming back for more 'Cause we don't ever wanna stop Out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-paul-mavis/just-like-the-waves-down-by-the-shore-your-gonna-keep-on-coming-back/) [John Paul Mavis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-paul-mavis/) > [“i think love is like..waves.. you ride one in to the beach, and it's the most amazing thing you've ever felt. but at some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-bauermeister/i-think-love-is-like-waves-you-ride-one-in-to-the-beach-and-it-s-the/) [Erica Bauermeister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-bauermeister/) > [Like waves make an ocean, on and on, Everybody's singing, yes, This is happiness happening,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-styles/like-waves-make-an-ocean-on-and-on-everybody-s-singing-yes-this-is/) [Darren Styles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-styles/) > [Feelings are much like waves, we can't stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf.!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/feelings-are-much-like-waves-we-can-t-stop-them-from-coming-but-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Feelings are like waves; we can't stop them from coming. Some waves feel like a familiar touch, soothing and known. Others come like tsunamis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-hussain-raja/feelings-are-like-waves-we-can-t-stop-them-from-coming-some-waves/) [Shahid Hussain Raja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-hussain-raja/) > [“Every loving word and action create a far reaching ripple effect - like the waves of the ocean.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-dhyan-giten/every-loving-word-and-action-create-a-far-reaching-ripple-effect-like/) [Swami Dhyan Giten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-dhyan-giten/) > [“People are like waves of the ocean, some cover you with tides of refreshment, whilst others drown you in floods of turmoil”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imam-ali-as/people-are-like-waves-of-the-ocean-some-cover-you-with-tides-of/) Imam Ali as > [“they sleep, they can be startled, even there in the soothing of the heart, like waves on the shore around them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/they-sleep-they-can-be-startled-even-there-in-the-soothing-of-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“I think love is kind of like those waves out there," she said. "You ride one in to the beach, and it's the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-bauermeister/i-think-love-is-kind-of-like-those-waves-out-there-she-said-you-ride/) [Erica Bauermeister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-bauermeister/) > [Always be like a water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santosh-kalwar/always-be-like-a-water-float-in-the-times-of-pain-or-dance-like-waves/) [Santosh Kalwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santosh-kalwar/) > [“ Then he told Perry that love was like the waves in the sea, gentle and good sometimes, rough and terrible at others, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-rossi/then-he-told-perry-that-love-was-like-the-waves-in-the-sea-gentle-and/) [Veronica Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-rossi/) ## More by John Cleveland > [Love melts the rigor which the rocks have bred; a flint will break upon a feather bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/love-melts-the-rigor-which-the-rocks-have-bred-a-flint-will-break/) [John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) > [Had Cain been Scot, God would have changed his doom nor forced him wander, but confine him home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/had-cain-been-scot-god-would-have-changed-his-doom-nor-forced-him/) [John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) > [The astrologer who spells the stars, mistakes his globes and in her bright eye interprets heaven's physiognomies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/the-astrologer-who-spells-the-stars-mistakes-his-globes-and-in-her/) [John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) > [I am no Poet here; my pen's the spout where the rain water of my eyes run out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/i-am-no-poet-here-my-pen-s-the-spout-where-the-rain-water-of-my-eyes/) [John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) [Explore all 5 John Cleveland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) ## More Cause quotes > [The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/the-present-contains-nothing-more-than-the-past-and-what-is-found-in/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. 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I am here to provide solutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-busquets/if-i-lose-the-ball-i-cause-the-team-a-problem-i-am-here-to-provide/) [Sergio Busquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-busquets/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Until you find a cause you can die for, you are not worthy to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/until-you-find-a-cause-you-can-die-for-you-are-not-worthy-to-live/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/pacifism-as-a-mass-movement-aims-to-avoid-suffering-pacifists-often/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [“...There are so many paths you can follow. So much effect from one simple cause.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-allen/there-are-so-many-paths-you-can-follow-so-much-effect-from-one-simple/) Lee Allen > [War can be prevented only by broad-minded statesmanship - a statesmanship that understands how to enlist people's interests in a leading cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/war-can-be-prevented-only-by-broad-minded-statesmanship-a/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [I think the other misconceptions when the film came out, he was very upset that it was so widely released and so widely seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-zwigoff/i-think-the-other-misconceptions-when-the-film-came-out-he-was-very/) [Terry Zwigoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-zwigoff/) Browse all 1,323 Cause quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their streams, but like the waves, their cause, run with disturbance till they swallow me as a description of his misery.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cleveland" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-laws-to-guide-their-streams-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cause" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-laws-to-guide-their-streams-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/john-cleveland-60438_cause_my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-la_49385.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their streams, but like the waves, their cause, run…” — John Cleveland", "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": "John Cleveland", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My tears will keep no channel,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-laws-to-guide-their-streams-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-laws-to-guide-their-streams-but/#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 } } ] } ```