--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Countless candles dribbled with hot wax…" description: "\"Countless candles dribbled with hot wax, and their flames, like little flags, fluttered in the unchartered currents of air. Thousands of lamps, naked, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mervyn-peake-2927_air_countless-candles-dribbled-with-hot-wax_1416349.png" --- # Countless candles dribbled with hot wax, and their flames… ![“Countless candles dribbled with hot wax, and their flames, like little flags, fluttered in the unchartered currents of air. Thousands of lamps, naked, or shuttered behind coloured glass, burned with their glows of purple, amber, grass-green, blue, blood red and even grey. The walls of Gormenghast…” quote by Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mervyn-peake-2927_air_countless-candles-dribbled-with-hot-wax_1416349.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mervyn-peake-2927_air_countless-candles-dribbled-with-hot-wax_1416349.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mervyn-peake-2927_air_countless-candles-dribbled-with-hot-wax_1416349.png) > “Countless candles dribbled with hot wax, and their flames, like little flags, fluttered in the unchartered currents of air. Thousands of lamps, naked, or shuttered behind coloured glass, burned with their glows of purple, amber, grass-green, blue, blood red and even grey. The walls of Gormenghast were like the walls of paradise or like the walls of an inferno. The colours were devilish or angelical according to the colour of the mind that watched them. They swam, those walls, with the hues of hell, with the tints of Zion. The breasts of the plumaged seraphim; the scales of Satan.” [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) ## 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 paints a vivid, surreal scene where light and color reflect the observer’s inner state, blurring heaven and hell. **In simple terms:** Colors and walls mirror the mind’s mood, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. Key Takeaway Observe how perception colors reality. Themes imagery perception duality Mood mysterious introspective Type descriptive poetic When to use this quote - art critique - literary analysis - creative writing - visual design Key Concepts surrealism symbolism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do your emotions shape what you see? - Can color influence moral judgment? A Different Perspective The description may be too ornate for practical interpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Air](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air/) [Amber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amber/) [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Blood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blood/) [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Blue bloods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-bloods/) [Breasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breasts/) [Burned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burned/) [Burned Glows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burned-glows-5004901/) [Candle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candle/) [Colour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colour/) [Colours Devilish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colours-devilish-5004900/) [Currents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/currents/) [Devilish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devilish/) [Flags](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flags/) [Flames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flames/) [Glasses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glasses/) [Gormenghast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gormenghast/) [Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grass/) [Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/green/) [Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grey/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hot/) [Hue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hue/) [Inferno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferno/) [Inferno Colours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferno-colours-5004898/) [Lamps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lamps/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Naked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naked/) [Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise/) [Purple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purple/) [Red](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/red/) [Satan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satan/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Walls Gormenghast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walls-gormenghast-5004902/) [Walls Hues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walls-hues-5004899/) [Zion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zion/) ## Related quotes > [Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-that-is-the-main-massing-of-the-original-stone-taken-by/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [He had no longer any need for home, for he carried his Gormenghast within him. All that he sought was jostling within himself. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-had-no-longer-any-need-for-home-for-he-carried-his-gormenghast/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“But Fuchsia might as well have been carved from dark marble. Only her tears moved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/but-fuchsia-might-as-well-have-been-carved-from-dark-marble-only-her/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [When he at least reached the door the handle had cease to vibrate. Lowering himself suddenly to his knees he placed his head and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/when-he-at-least-reached-the-door-the-handle-had-cease-to-vibrate/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“It was a long head. It was a wedge, a sliver, a grotesque slice in which it seemed the features had been forced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/it-was-a-long-head-it-was-a-wedge-a-sliver-a-grotesque-slice-in-which/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-that-is-the-main-massing-of-the-original-stone-taken-by-2/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [Life is too fleet for onomatopoeia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/life-is-too-fleet-for-onomatopoeia/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [ \[Peake's books\] are actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/peake-s-books-are-actual-additions-to-life-they-give-like-certain/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“Gormenghast. Withdrawn and ruinous it broods in umbra: the immemorial masonry: the towers, the tracts. Is all corroding? No. Through an avenue of spires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-withdrawn-and-ruinous-it-broods-in-umbra-the-immemorial/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [Mervyn Peake is a finer poet than Edgar Allan Poe, and he is therefore able to maintain his world of fantasy brilliantly through three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/mervyn-peake-is-a-finer-poet-than-edgar-allan-poe-and-he-is-therefore/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [Many fantasy novels - 'Lord of the Rings', for instance, or 'Lavondyss' by Robert Holdstock - are beautifully written. Geoff Ryman's 'The Child Garden'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/many-fantasy-novels-lord-of-the-rings-for-instance-or-lavondyss-by/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) ## More by Mervyn Peake > [Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-that-is-the-main-massing-of-the-original-stone-taken-by/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [Through her, in microcosm, the wide earth sobbed. The starglobe sank in her; the colours faded. The death-dew rose and the wild birds in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/through-her-in-microcosm-the-wide-earth-sobbed-the-starglobe-sank-in/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“Behind him she saw something which by contrast with the alien incalculable figure before her, was close and real. It was something which she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/behind-him-she-saw-something-which-by-contrast-with-the-alien/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“If seeing her an hour before her last Weak cough into all blackness I could yet Be held by chalk-white walls - The Consumptive.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/if-seeing-her-an-hour-before-her-last-weak-cough-into-all-blackness-i/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“He knew that he was caught up in one of those stretches of time when for anything to happen normally would be abnormal. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-knew-that-he-was-caught-up-in-one-of-those-stretches-of-time-when/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“Would you be so kind as to remove your redundant carcass from the door of this room, my man,’ he said, in his high,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/would-you-be-so-kind-as-to-remove-your-redundant-carcass-from-the/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [What is Time... That you speak of it so subserviently? Are we to be the slaves of the sun, that second-hand, overrated knob of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/what-is-time-that-you-speak-of-it-so-subserviently-are-we-to-be-the/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“He could now inhabit the world of words, with, at the back of his melancholy, a solace he had not known before”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-could-now-inhabit-the-world-of-words-with-at-the-back-of-his/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“He had emptied the bright goblet of romance; at a single gulp he had emptied it. The glass of it lay scattered on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-had-emptied-the-bright-goblet-of-romance-at-a-single-gulp-he-had/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“I want a big breakfast," said Fuchsia at last. "I want a lot to eat, I'm going to think today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/i-want-a-big-breakfast-said-fuchsia-at-last-i-want-a-lot-to-eat-i-m/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“Before it had awoke to die on the instant of its waking, a score of bells and clocks had shouted midday and for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/before-it-had-awoke-to-die-on-the-instant-of-its-waking-a-score-of/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“Gormenghast. Withdrawn and ruinous it broods in umbra: the immemorial masonry: the towers, the tracts. Is all corroding? No. Through an avenue of spires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-withdrawn-and-ruinous-it-broods-in-umbra-the-immemorial/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“I do not understand your love,' he said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/i-do-not-understand-your-love-he-said/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [ \[Peake's books\] are actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/peake-s-books-are-actual-additions-to-life-they-give-like-certain/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [Why break the heart that never beat from love?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/why-break-the-heart-that-never-beat-from-love/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) [Explore all 143 Mervyn Peake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. 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Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) [Browse all 6,278 Air quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Countless candles dribbled with hot wax, and their flames, like little flags, fluttered in the unchartered currents of air. Thousands of lamps, naked, or shuttered behind coloured glass, burned with their glows of purple, amber, grass-green, blue, blood red and even grey. The walls of Gormenghast were like the walls of paradise or like the walls of an inferno. 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