--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Plover’s words were like dried flowers…" description: "\"“Plover’s words were like dried flowers, stiff and crumbling, crushed flat between pages, when we’d had the living, blooming blossoms all around”\" — Le..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png" --- # Plover’s words were like dried flowers, stiff and… ![“Plover’s words were like dried flowers, stiff and crumbling, crushed flat between pages, when we’d had the living, blooming blossoms all around” quote by Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png) > ““Plover’s words were like dried flowers, stiff and crumbling, crushed flat between pages, when we’d had the living, blooming blossoms all around”” [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) ## 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 metaphor describing words prose as dry flowers contrasted with living blossoms. **In simple terms:** Prose can feel lifeless compared to vivid imagination. Key Takeaway Seek vivid, alive language in writing. Themes literature imagery writing Mood inspirational thoughtful Type descriptive analytical When to use this quote - creative writing - literary analysis - teaching prose Key Concepts metaphor contrast Questions to Reflect On - How can writers avoid dry prose? - What makes language feel alive? A Different Perspective Might be overly poetic for practical critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) ## Related quotes > [There are some dried flowers found in between the pages of your books.. you've done a lot of saving, haven't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/needa-muy/there-are-some-dried-flowers-found-in-between-the-pages-of-your-books/) [Needa Muy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/needa-muy/) > [“Love is like dried flowers sometimes. Even though you watch the petals shrink and change colour, you cannot help treasuring them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/love-is-like-dried-flowers-sometimes-even-though-you-watch-the-petals/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) > [The power of the dead is that we think they see us all the time. The dead have a presence. Is there a level…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-power-of-the-dead-is-that-we-think-they-see-us-all-the-time-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I don't want to see the dollar strong because the rest of the world is crumbling. I would like to see the dollar strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malpass/i-don-t-want-to-see-the-dollar-strong-because-the-rest-of-the-world/) [David Malpass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malpass/) > [While our world is shaking and crumbling, we need to realize that one thing will never change, and that is God. He is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/while-our-world-is-shaking-and-crumbling-we-need-to-realize-that-one/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [With chemical film, it was possible to alter photographs, but you had to be an expert. That's not true any more. The LA Times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/with-chemical-film-it-was-possible-to-alter-photographs-but-you-had/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [It was voters in the Rust Belt that cared about their roads being rebuilt, their highways, their bridges. They felt like the world was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-parscale/it-was-voters-in-the-rust-belt-that-cared-about-their-roads-being/) [Brad Parscale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-parscale/) > [“...Something I had seen as slid–not perfect, but solid–was suddenly crumbling. I felt like I was falling to pieces right along with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/something-i-had-seen-as-slid-not-perfect-but-solid-was-suddenly/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“It is so simple and easy to hate and so grueling and hard to love, when the emotional “love forever”- revelation has become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/it-is-so-simple-and-easy-to-hate-and-so-grueling-and-hard-to-love/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“immediately i felt my body crumbling, shaking so fast that the very atoms of my being seemed to dissolve, and then i was dissolving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/immediately-i-felt-my-body-crumbling-shaking-so-fast-that-the-very/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [Yet if anyone cares to read over the now crumbling minutes giving an account of the meetings at which the Italian Fasci di Combattimento…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benito-mussolini/yet-if-anyone-cares-to-read-over-the-now-crumbling-minutes-giving-an/) [Benito Mussolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benito-mussolini/) > ['Untitled' is a time machine that can transport you to 1992, an edgy moment when the art world was crumbling, money was scarce, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/untitled-is-a-time-machine-that-can-transport-you-to-1992-an-edgy/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [We don't have time to waste. Our communities are crumbling; our children are under siege. Failing schools and a for-profit prison-industrial complex are sucking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-l-taylor/we-don-t-have-time-to-waste-our-communities-are-crumbling-our/) [Susan L. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-l-taylor/) > [Eternity! How know we but we stand On the precipitous and crumbling verge Of Time e'en now, Eternity below?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-coles/eternity-how-know-we-but-we-stand-on-the-precipitous-and-crumbling/) [Abraham Coles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-coles/) > [There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one's fellow man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/there-is-no-sweeter-sound-than-the-crumbling-of-one-s-fellow-man/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) ## More by Lev Grossman > [“It was about damn time something happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/it-was-about-damn-time-something-happened/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [We're wired to expect the world to be brighter and more meaningful and more obviously interesting than it actually is. And when we realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/we-re-wired-to-expect-the-world-to-be-brighter-and-more-meaningful/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“He was going to sign the papers and he was going to be a motherfucking magician.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/he-was-going-to-sign-the-papers-and-he-was-going-to-be-a/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“Being brave was easy when you would rather die than give up. Fatigue meant nothing when you actually wanted to suffer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/being-brave-was-easy-when-you-would-rather-die-than-give-up-fatigue/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [As a writer I'm more drawn to villains who are just slightly mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/as-a-writer-i-m-more-drawn-to-villains-who-are-just-slightly-mad/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“He wasn't in a safe little story where wrongs were automatically righted; he was still in the real world, where bad bitter things happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/he-wasn-t-in-a-safe-little-story-where-wrongs-were-automatically/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I love rare books. Not that I own a lot of them, mind you. You couldn't quite call me a rare-book collector. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-love-rare-books-not-that-i-own-a-lot-of-them-mind-you-you-couldn-t/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [By now he had learned enough to know that when he was getting annoyed at somebody else, it was usually because there was something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/by-now-he-had-learned-enough-to-know-that-when-he-was-getting-annoyed/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [About as close you can get to the perfect cerebral thriller: searingly smart, ridiculously funny, and fast as hell... I defy anybody to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/about-as-close-you-can-get-to-the-perfect-cerebral-thriller-searingly/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“It's true," Eliot said. "Statistically, historically, and however else you want to look at it, you are almost never right. A monkey making life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/it-s-true-eliot-said-statistically-historically-and-however-else-you/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“God, I hope we don’t have to use that,” was all he said out loud. “Oh, come on, Quentina. We’re not looking for trouble.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/god-i-hope-we-don-t-have-to-use-that-was-all-he-said-out-loud-oh-come/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I mean, when you're tired of book reviews, you're tired of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-mean-when-you-re-tired-of-book-reviews-you-re-tired-of-life/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [My specialty as a collector is books that almost have value. When I love a book, I don't buy the first edition, because those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/my-specialty-as-a-collector-is-books-that-almost-have-value-when-i/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I used to write in a local coffee shop, but there was another guy, another writer, who kept sitting in my favorite seat. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-used-to-write-in-a-local-coffee-shop-but-there-was-another-guy/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I don't know if I've ever derived such an immediate sense of calm and well-being from any book as I did from 'Right Ho,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-ever-derived-such-an-immediate-sense-of-calm-and/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) [Explore all 379 Lev Grossman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) ## More Crumbling quotes > [There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one's fellow man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/there-is-no-sweeter-sound-than-the-crumbling-of-one-s-fellow-man/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Eternity! How know we but we stand On the precipitous and crumbling verge Of Time e'en now, Eternity below?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-coles/eternity-how-know-we-but-we-stand-on-the-precipitous-and-crumbling/) [Abraham Coles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-coles/) > [We don't have time to waste. Our communities are crumbling; our children are under siege. Failing schools and a for-profit prison-industrial complex are sucking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-l-taylor/we-don-t-have-time-to-waste-our-communities-are-crumbling-our/) [Susan L. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-l-taylor/) > ['Untitled' is a time machine that can transport you to 1992, an edgy moment when the art world was crumbling, money was scarce, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/untitled-is-a-time-machine-that-can-transport-you-to-1992-an-edgy/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Yet if anyone cares to read over the now crumbling minutes giving an account of the meetings at which the Italian Fasci di Combattimento…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benito-mussolini/yet-if-anyone-cares-to-read-over-the-now-crumbling-minutes-giving-an/) [Benito Mussolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benito-mussolini/) > [“immediately i felt my body crumbling, shaking so fast that the very atoms of my being seemed to dissolve, and then i was dissolving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/immediately-i-felt-my-body-crumbling-shaking-so-fast-that-the-very/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [“It is so simple and easy to hate and so grueling and hard to love, when the emotional “love forever”- revelation has become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/it-is-so-simple-and-easy-to-hate-and-so-grueling-and-hard-to-love/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“...Something I had seen as slid–not perfect, but solid–was suddenly crumbling. I felt like I was falling to pieces right along with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/something-i-had-seen-as-slid-not-perfect-but-solid-was-suddenly/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [It was voters in the Rust Belt that cared about their roads being rebuilt, their highways, their bridges. They felt like the world was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-parscale/it-was-voters-in-the-rust-belt-that-cared-about-their-roads-being/) [Brad Parscale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-parscale/) > [With chemical film, it was possible to alter photographs, but you had to be an expert. That's not true any more. The LA Times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/with-chemical-film-it-was-possible-to-alter-photographs-but-you-had/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [While our world is shaking and crumbling, we need to realize that one thing will never change, and that is God. He is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/while-our-world-is-shaking-and-crumbling-we-need-to-realize-that-one/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I don't want to see the dollar strong because the rest of the world is crumbling. I would like to see the dollar strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malpass/i-don-t-want-to-see-the-dollar-strong-because-the-rest-of-the-world/) [David Malpass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malpass/) > [The power of the dead is that we think they see us all the time. The dead have a presence. Is there a level…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-power-of-the-dead-is-that-we-think-they-see-us-all-the-time-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Many, many large cities have old, crumbling infrastructure that have got to be dealt with in the nearest future, or they're going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-natsios/many-many-large-cities-have-old-crumbling-infrastructure-that-have/) [Andrew Natsios](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-natsios/) > [Sometimes, when I get a good picture, it feels like I have taken another nervous step into increasingly rarified air. Each good-news picture, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/sometimes-when-i-get-a-good-picture-it-feels-like-i-have-taken/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) Browse all 189 Crumbling quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Plover’s words were like dried flowers, stiff and crumbling, crushed flat between pages, when we’d had the living, blooming blossoms all around”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lev Grossman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-stiff-and-crumbling-crushed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crumbling" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-stiff-and-crumbling-crushed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/lev-grossman-747_crumbling_plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-s_2676812.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Plover’s words were like dried flowers, stiff and crumbling, crushed flat between pages, when we’d had the…” — Lev Grossman", "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": "Lev Grossman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Plover’s words were like dried flowers,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-stiff-and-crumbling-crushed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/plover-s-words-were-like-dried-flowers-stiff-and-crumbling-crushed/#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 } } ] } ```