--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was initially planning to write about…" description: "\"I was initially planning to write about grief in terms of Eurydice and the myth thereof. By that point the overall metaphor of height and depth and fla..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg" --- # I was initially planning to write about grief in terms of… ![“I was initially planning to write about grief in terms of Eurydice and the myth thereof. By that point the overall metaphor of height and depth and flat and falling and rising was coming into being in my mind.” quote by Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg) > “I was initially planning to write about grief in terms of Eurydice and the myth thereof. By that point the overall metaphor of height and depth and flat and falling and rising was coming into being in my mind.” [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author intended to explore grief through the Eurydice myth, using metaphors of height, depth, and motion to shape the narrative’s emotional landscape. **In simple terms:** Grief explored via mythic metaphor. Key Takeaway Use metaphor to process loss. Themes grief myth metaphor Mood introspective poetic Type literary emotional When to use this quote - writing workshops - therapy - education - artistic expression Key Concepts literary analysis psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does myth help you understand personal loss? - What other symbols capture grief’s layers? A Different Perspective Metaphors may oversimplify complex emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Planning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planning/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The moment I decided to move on.. I was knowing you will keep coming back to mind..nites will be longer and days will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-moment-i-decided-to-move-on-i-was-knowing-you-will-keep-coming/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was down in Washington when 9/11 happened. We were in the middle of putting together the next summer season, and all I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-woodward/i-was-down-in-washington-when-9-11-happened-we-were-in-the-middle-of/) [Joanne Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-woodward/) > [While I did a lot of research, I ended up feeling that the best way to write about grief was to describe it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-o-rourke/while-i-did-a-lot-of-research-i-ended-up-feeling-that-the-best-way-to/) [Meghan O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-o-rourke/) > [“..in the last few years American poetry has come out of a poetry of complaint, not praising, and it was initially maybe rich. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/in-the-last-few-years-american-poetry-has-come-out-of-a-poetry-of/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [But to write - that is grief and labor; and to read what one has written - how unlike the story as one saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/but-to-write-that-is-grief-and-labor-and-to-read-what-one-has-written/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [New York... is a city of geometric heights, a petrified desert of grids and lattices, an inferno of greenish abstraction under a flat sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/new-york-is-a-city-of-geometric-heights-a-petrified-desert-of-grids/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I wouldn't mind gigging around the same era as Jesus, after he gives his speech about the meek and how blessed they are and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jefferies/i-wouldn-t-mind-gigging-around-the-same-era-as-jesus-after-he-gives/) [Jim Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jefferies/) > [Wear flats. You're short. It's much cooler not to pretend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alber-elbaz/wear-flats-you-re-short-it-s-much-cooler-not-to-pretend/) [Alber Elbaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alber-elbaz/) > [The key of D is daffodil yellow, B major is maroon, and B flat is blue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-mcpartland/the-key-of-d-is-daffodil-yellow-b-major-is-maroon-and-b-flat-is-blue/) [Marian McPartland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-mcpartland/) > [As a child, we lived in flats, and I was never allowed pets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-pigott-smith/as-a-child-we-lived-in-flats-and-i-was-never-allowed-pets/) [Tim Pigott-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-pigott-smith/) > [I love flat shoes, more so than heels. One of my obsessions is men's co-respondent lace-ups.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twiggy/i-love-flat-shoes-more-so-than-heels-one-of-my-obsessions-is-men-s-co/) [Twiggy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twiggy/) > [ Gonna rain like a cow pissin' on a flat rock" \[drugstore clerk to detective Virgil Flowers\] Dark of the Moon, p.7 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sandford/gonna-rain-like-a-cow-pissin-on-a-flat-rock-drugstore-clerk-to/) [John Sandford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sandford/) > [Flat muscled and honey coloured. Sea secrets in his eyes. A silver raindrop in his ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/flat-muscled-and-honey-coloured-sea-secrets-in-his-eyes-a-silver/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our teeples, drowned the cocks! You sulphurour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/blow-winds-and-crack-your-cheeks-rage-blow-you-cataracts-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Julian Barnes > [“You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed. People may not notice at the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-things-that-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“I settled into a contented routine of working, spending my free time with Veronica and, back in my student room, wanking explosively to fantasies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-settled-into-a-contented-routine-of-working-spending-my-free-time/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-greatest-patriotism-is-to-tell-your-country-when-it-is-behaving/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“There is only good vodka and very good vodka—there is no such thing as bad vodka.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/there-is-only-good-vodka-and-very-good-vodka-there-is-no-such-thing/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Alice Munro can move characters through time in a way that no other writer can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/alice-munro-can-move-characters-through-time-in-a-way-that-no-other/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [How rarely do our emotions meet the object they seem to deserve? How hopelessly we signal; how dark the sky; how big the waves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/how-rarely-do-our-emotions-meet-the-object-they-seem-to-deserve-how/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“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/) > [“Why slum it where people were burdened by yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that? By history? Here, on the Island,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/why-slum-it-where-people-were-burdened-by-yesterday-and-the-day/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“In those years before mobile phones, email and Skype, travelers depended on the rudimentary communications system known as the postcard. Other methods--the long-distance phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-those-years-before-mobile-phones-email-and-skype-travelers/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“My train was late, slowed by the usual Sunday engineering work. I got home in the early evening. I remember that I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/my-train-was-late-slowed-by-the-usual-sunday-engineering-work-i-got/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [In life, every ending is just the start of another story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-life-every-ending-is-just-the-start-of-another-story/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Indeed, isn’t the whole business of ascribing responsibility kind of a cop-out? We want to blame an individual so that everyone else is exculpated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/indeed-isn-t-the-whole-business-of-ascribing-responsibility-kind-of-a/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Some of the freckles I once loved are now closer to liver spots. But it’s still the eyes we look at, isn’t it? That’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/some-of-the-freckles-i-once-loved-are-now-closer-to-liver-spots-but/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“And what percentage of people take up the option to die off?’ She looked at me, her glance telling me to be calm. ‘Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/and-what-percentage-of-people-take-up-the-option-to-die-off-she/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) [Explore all 454 Julian Barnes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was initially planning to write about grief in terms of Eurydice and the myth thereof. By that point the overall metaphor of height and depth and flat and falling and rising was coming into being in my mind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julian Barnes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about-grief-in-terms-of-eurydice/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about-grief-in-terms-of-eurydice/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/julian-barnes-522_death_i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about_2967990.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was initially planning to write about grief in terms of Eurydice and the myth thereof. By that point the…” — Julian Barnes", "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": "Julian Barnes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was initially planning to write...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about-grief-in-terms-of-eurydice/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-was-initially-planning-to-write-about-grief-in-terms-of-eurydice/#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 } } ] } ```