--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While the moon smoothly shifted the…" description: "\"“While the moon smoothly shifted the shadows from one side of Edgewood to the other, Daily Alice dreamed that she stood in a flower-starred field where..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg" --- # While the moon smoothly shifted the shadows from one side… ![“While the moon smoothly shifted the shadows from one side of Edgewood to the other, Daily Alice dreamed that she stood in a flower-starred field where on a hill there grew an oak tree and a thorn in deep embrace, their branches intertwined like fingers. Far down the hall, Sophie dreamed that there…” quote by John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg) > ““While the moon smoothly shifted the shadows from one side of Edgewood to the other, Daily Alice dreamed that she stood in a flower-starred field where on a hill there grew an oak tree and a thorn in deep embrace, their branches intertwined like fingers. Far down the hall, Sophie dreamed that there was a tiny door in her elbow, open a crack, through which the wind blew, blowing on her heart. Dr. Drinkwater dreamed he sat before his typewriter and wrote this: 'There is an aged, aged insect who lives in a hole in the ground. One June he puts on his summer straw, and takes his pipe and his staff and his lamp in half his hands, and follows the worm and the root to the stair that leads up to the door into blue summer.' This seemed immensely significant to him, but when he awoke he wouldn't be able to remember a word of it, try as he might. Mother beside him dreamed her husband wasn't in his study at all, but with her in the kitchen, where she drew tin cookie-sheets endlessly out of the oven; the baked things on them were brown and round, and when he asked her what they were, she said 'Years'.”” [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage explores how dreams intertwine personal symbols, memories, and subconscious meanings, reflecting inner desires and fears. **In simple terms:** Dreams blend symbols and feelings, revealing hidden thoughts. Key Takeaway Pay attention to recurring dream imagery. Themes dreams symbolism memory identity creativity Mood mysterious reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy sessions - personal reflection - literary analysis Key Concepts psychoanalysis mythic archetypes narrative imagination Questions to Reflect On - What personal symbols appear repeatedly in your dreams? - How do these images relate to your waking life? A Different Perspective Dream interpretation can be subjective and may mislead without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Oak tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oak-tree/) ## Related quotes > [My mother dreamed dreams for Joaquin and for me long before we could dream them for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-castro/my-mother-dreamed-dreams-for-joaquin-and-for-me-long-before-we-could/) [Julian Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-castro/) > [You never quite know what you do in life that leaves a seed behind that grows into an oak tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/you-never-quite-know-what-you-do-in-life-that-leaves-a-seed-behind/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [An oak tree is an oak tree. That is all it has to do. If an oak tree is less than an oak tree,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-oak-tree-is-an-oak-tree-that-is-all-it-has-to-do-if-an-oak-tree-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love shook my heart/ Like the wind on the mountain/ Troubling the oak-trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/love-shook-my-heart-like-the-wind-on-the-mountain-troubling-the-oak/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [“As we actually taste the flavor of what he's teaching, we begin to see that it's not proverbs for daily living, or ways of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-bourgeault/as-we-actually-taste-the-flavor-of-what-he-s-teaching-we-begin-to-see/) [Cynthia Bourgeault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-bourgeault/) > [It would be easier to grow oak trees by planting marbles than for someone to be saved without the seed of the word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-j-lawson/it-would-be-easier-to-grow-oak-trees-by-planting-marbles-than-for/) [Steven J Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-j-lawson/) > [The tallest oak tree once was an acorn that any pig could have swallowed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/the-tallest-oak-tree-once-was-an-acorn-that-any-pig-could-have/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“They came across more ragged men resting in the shade of an oak tree. These soldiers all wore blue uniforms. Again,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pope-osborne/they-came-across-more-ragged-men-resting-in-the-shade-of-an-oak-tree/) [Mary Pope Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pope-osborne/) > [Blow kisses to the oak trees and sparrows and elephants and weeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/blow-kisses-to-the-oak-trees-and-sparrows-and-elephants-and-weeds/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [“Negativity is totally unnatural. It is a psychic pollutant, and there is a deep link between the poisoning and destruction of nature and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/negativity-is-totally-unnatural-it-is-a-psychic-pollutant-and-there/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green, That creepeth o’er ruins old! Of right choice food are his meals, I ween, In his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/oh-a-dainty-plant-is-the-ivy-green-that-creepeth-o-er-ruins-old-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Our ordinary mind always tried to persuade us that we are nothing but acorns and that our greatest happiness will be to become bigger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-ordinary-mind-always-tried-to-persuade-us-that-we-are-nothing-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And if we seem nutty to you and if we seem like an odd ball to you, just remember one thing. The mighty oak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-turner/and-if-we-seem-nutty-to-you-and-if-we-seem-like-an-odd-ball-to-you/) [Glenn Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-turner/) > [“Well, make up your mind. I don’t have all night.” Fidelia set her beer on the porch and removed a set of keys from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerrelyn-sparks/well-make-up-your-mind-i-don-t-have-all-night-fidelia-set-her-beer-on/) [Kerrelyn Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerrelyn-sparks/) > [“Oh oak tree, how they have pruned you. Now you stand odd and strangely shaped! You were hacked a hundred times until you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/oh-oak-tree-how-they-have-pruned-you-now-you-stand-odd-and-strangely/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) ## More by John Crowley > [“The Crows of the region could have told them that there are almost always more Crows around them than they can see; but like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/the-crows-of-the-region-could-have-told-them-that-there-are-almost/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [Learning to decipher words had only added to the pleasures of holding spines and turning pages, measuring the journey to the end with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/learning-to-decipher-words-had-only-added-to-the-pleasures-of-holding/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [It occurred to him that seeing a woman's child is like seeing a woman naked, in the way it changes how her face looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/it-occurred-to-him-that-seeing-a-woman-s-child-is-like-seeing-a-woman/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“He learned, though slowly, what all great harrowed lovers learn: that love is what most surely compels love -- is perhaps, except for brute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/he-learned-though-slowly-what-all-great-harrowed-lovers-learn-that/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“...only think a moment that we are here now, and that that was then, and it has come to this, and how odd, odd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/only-think-a-moment-that-we-are-here-now-and-that-that-was-then-and/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [Love is a myth.' 'Love is a myth,' Grandfather Trout said. 'Like summer.' 'What?' 'In winter,'Grandfather Trout said, 'summer is a myth. A report,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/love-is-a-myth-love-is-a-myth-grandfather-trout-said-like-summer-what/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“The Tale was behind them. And it was to there they journeyed. One step would take them there; they were there already”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/the-tale-was-behind-them-and-it-was-to-there-they-journeyed-one-step/) [john crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“They called him John Storm: John after his grandfather, but Storm after his father and his mother.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/they-called-him-john-storm-john-after-his-grandfather-but-storm-after/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“Handsome guy, Victor, in a brutal, black-Irish way. Like most New York bartenders, he was really an actor, or was it the reverse? ("Novelty")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/handsome-guy-victor-in-a-brutal-black-irish-way-like-most-new-york/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [The things that make us happy make us wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/the-things-that-make-us-happy-make-us-wise/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“There was a game she had played with Sophie in the long hallways of Edgewood, where she and Sophie would stand as far apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/there-was-a-game-she-had-played-with-sophie-in-the-long-hallways-of/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“... their lives were full of quiet drama, full of vague yet thrilling signs that life was not as the common run supposed it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/their-lives-were-full-of-quiet-drama-full-of-vague-yet-thrilling/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [It was anyway all a long time ago; the world, we know now, is as it is and not different; if there was ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/it-was-anyway-all-a-long-time-ago-the-world-we-know-now-is-as-it-is/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“I could be listening to Painted Red weave the stories of the saints in her rich roomy voice, and beginning to see how all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/i-could-be-listening-to-painted-red-weave-the-stories-of-the-saints/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“What you learn as you get older is that the world is old, and has been old for a long time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/what-you-learn-as-you-get-older-is-that-the-world-is-old-and-has-been/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) [Explore all 88 John Crowley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) ## More Dreamed quotes > [I dreamed for a lover, I dreamed for a friend, and in the end I got a lover and a friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-dreamed-for-a-lover-i-dreamed-for-a-friend-and-in-the-end-i-got-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One of the Internet's highest-profile companies, Priceline once dreamed of transforming the way consumer goods are bought and sold by offering customers the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/one-of-the-internet-s-highest-profile-companies-priceline-once/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [“My mom believed that you make your own luck. Over the stove she had hung these old, maroon painted letters that spell out, “MANIFEST.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmy-laybourne/my-mom-believed-that-you-make-your-own-luck-over-the-stove-she-had/) [Emmy Laybourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmy-laybourne/) > [A long time ago when I was very little, I dreamed about being on stage. Some people told me I would never be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-potter/a-long-time-ago-when-i-was-very-little-i-dreamed-about-being-on-stage/) [Lauren Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-potter/) > [I've always dreamed big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-collins/i-ve-always-dreamed-big/) [Gemma Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-collins/) > [As a precocious teen I dreamed of being Graham Greene. Well, as it turned out, I never wrote a great novel, sadly, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-burchill/as-a-precocious-teen-i-dreamed-of-being-graham-greene-well-as-it/) [Julie Burchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-burchill/) > [My mother dreamed dreams for Joaquin and for me long before we could dream them for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-castro/my-mother-dreamed-dreams-for-joaquin-and-for-me-long-before-we-could/) [Julian Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-castro/) > [“It was a world that most fans never saw. One that many dreamed of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-mensch/it-was-a-world-that-most-fans-never-saw-one-that-many-dreamed-of/) [Louise Mensch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-mensch/) > [I dreamed big. So it's so great to be living my own dream. I'm working in an industry that I want to work in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-strahovski/i-dreamed-big-so-it-s-so-great-to-be-living-my-own-dream-i-m-working/) [Yvonne Strahovski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-strahovski/) > [Since my childhood, I dreamed of wearing the Black and Yellow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-reus/since-my-childhood-i-dreamed-of-wearing-the-black-and-yellow/) [Marco Reus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-reus/) > [“I woke myself in the darkness, and I knew only that a dream had scared me so badly that I had to wake up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-woke-myself-in-the-darkness-and-i-knew-only-that-a-dream-had-scared/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I never dreamed I would one day work at it White House.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hughes/i-never-dreamed-i-would-one-day-work-at-it-white-house/) [Karen Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hughes/) > [I always dreamed of making it in baseball, but life has moved pretty quickly for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-trout/i-always-dreamed-of-making-it-in-baseball-but-life-has-moved-pretty/) [Mike Trout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-trout/) > [Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth, would be to have been young and never dreamed at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/worse-than-not-realizing-the-dreams-of-your-youth-would-be-to-have/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [I was never a girl who dreamed about what her wedding day would be like, but I've always dreamed about decorating my baby's nursery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-romijn/i-was-never-a-girl-who-dreamed-about-what-her-wedding-day-would-be/) [Rebecca Romijn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-romijn/) Browse all 957 Dreamed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“While the moon smoothly shifted the shadows from one side of Edgewood to the other, Daily Alice dreamed that she stood in a flower-starred field where on a hill there grew an oak tree and a thorn in deep embrace, their branches intertwined like fingers. Far down the hall, Sophie dreamed that there was a tiny door in her elbow, open a crack, through which the wind blew, blowing on her heart. Dr. Drinkwater dreamed he sat before his typewriter and wrote this: 'There is an aged, aged insect who lives in a hole in the ground. One June he puts on his summer straw, and takes his pipe and his staff and his lamp in half his hands, and follows the worm and the root to the stair that leads up to the door into blue summer.' This seemed immensely significant to him, but when he awoke he wouldn't be able to remember a word of it, try as he might. Mother beside him dreamed her husband wasn't in his study at all, but with her in the kitchen, where she drew tin cookie-sheets endlessly out of the oven; the baked things on them were brown and round, and when he asked her what they were, she said 'Years'.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Crowley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shadows-from-one-side-of-edgewood/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dreamed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shadows-from-one-side-of-edgewood/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/john-crowley-7544_oak-tree_while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shad_1203296.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“While the moon smoothly shifted the shadows from one side of Edgewood to the other, Daily Alice dreamed that…” — John Crowley", "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 Crowley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“While the moon smoothly shifted the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shadows-from-one-side-of-edgewood/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/while-the-moon-smoothly-shifted-the-shadows-from-one-side-of-edgewood/#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 } } ] } ```