--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A sudden cloud formation of birds was…" description: "\"A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the moon, and he was just as suddenly penned in by four walls-the demons' pen.\" — Mo Yan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png" --- # A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the… ![“A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the moon, and he was just as suddenly penned in by four walls-the demons' pen.” quote by Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png) > “A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the moon, and he was just as suddenly penned in by four walls-the demons' pen.” [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) ## 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 describes a sudden, oppressive situation likened to being trapped by demons. **In simple terms:** Sudden oppression feels like being trapped. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront oppressive forces. Themes oppression metaphor conflict Mood dark intense Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - creative writing - mental health Key Concepts psychological pressure sudden change Questions to Reflect On - What “demons” trap you? - How can you break free? A Different Perspective Metaphor may exaggerate reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Demon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demon/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) ## Related quotes > [“A small core glowed bright within Lucy. She had swallowed the moon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-davis/a-small-core-glowed-bright-within-lucy-she-had-swallowed-the-moon/) [Jane Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-davis/) > [A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-man-starts-upon-a-sudden-takes-pen-ink-and-paper-and-without-ever/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [When you go somewhere like Kenya and you see how the children don't have pencils and pens, and all of these things are considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomie-harris/when-you-go-somewhere-like-kenya-and-you-see-how-the-children-don-t/) [Naomie Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomie-harris/) > [When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-you-have-committed-enough-words-to-paper-you-feel-you-have-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Trust me, I did not set out to establish three pen names and, for the record, I do not recommend it as a career…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayne-ann-krentz/trust-me-i-did-not-set-out-to-establish-three-pen-names-and-for-the/) [Jayne Ann Krentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayne-ann-krentz/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [With taxes, if they aren't working right, we can change them with a stroke of the pen. 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White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [A day which passed without a poem from my pen I considered lost and misused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/a-day-which-passed-without-a-poem-from-my-pen-i-considered-lost-and/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [I was taking all prints and I brought them to the Magnum meetings, trying the old Josef Koudelka trick: Give them to photographers, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-van-agtmael/i-was-taking-all-prints-and-i-brought-them-to-the-magnum-meetings/) [Peter van Agtmael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-van-agtmael/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) Brian Reade ## More by Mo Yan > [The sun, a red wheel, was sinking slowly in the west. Besides being spectacularly beautiful, the early-summer sunset was exceedingly soft and gentle: black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/the-sun-a-red-wheel-was-sinking-slowly-in-the-west-besides-being/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“Finally, she mused that human existence is as brief as the life of autumn grass, so what was there to fear from taking chances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/finally-she-mused-that-human-existence-is-as-brief-as-the-life-of/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [I'll continue on the path I've been taking, feet on the ground, describing people's lives, describing people's emotions, writing from the standpoint of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/i-ll-continue-on-the-path-i-ve-been-taking-feet-on-the-ground/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“Strong winds eventually cease, unhappy families return to peace”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/strong-winds-eventually-cease-unhappy-families-return-to-peace/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [I think writers write for their consciences, they write for their own true audiences, for their souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/i-think-writers-write-for-their-consciences-they-write-for-their-own/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [I have always been independent. I like it that way. When someone forces me to do something, I don't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/i-have-always-been-independent-i-like-it-that-way-when-someone-forces/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“A stable, peaceful society is the training ground for humanity, just as caged animals, removed from the violent unpredictability of the wild, are influenced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/a-stable-peaceful-society-is-the-training-ground-for-humanity-just-as/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [For a country boy, poor as I was, whose constant worry was to be able to have enough to eat, the Army guaranteed one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/for-a-country-boy-poor-as-i-was-whose-constant-worry-was-to-be-able/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“The cliche that sea dry up and rocks rot away, but the heart never changes is nothing but a beautiful fantasy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/the-cliche-that-sea-dry-up-and-rocks-rot-away-but-the-heart-never/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“There are people who walk mules and people walk horses, but I never thought there were people who walk cops.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/there-are-people-who-walk-mules-and-people-walk-horses-but-i-never/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“The young must not scoff at the old, for flowers don’t bloom forever”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/the-young-must-not-scoff-at-the-old-for-flowers-don-t-bloom-forever/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“run, run, you can’t get away, the monk can run but the temple will never get away!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/run-run-you-can-t-get-away-the-monk-can-run-but-the-temple-will-never/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [When someone forces me to do something I don't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/when-someone-forces-me-to-do-something-i-don-t-do-it/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [I think that China has many outstanding authors, and their great works should also be recognised by the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/i-think-that-china-has-many-outstanding-authors-and-their-great-works/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [“I sometimes think that there is a link between the decline in humanity and the increase in prosperity and comfort. Property and comfort are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/i-sometimes-think-that-there-is-a-link-between-the-decline-in/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) [Explore all 48 Mo Yan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the moon, and he was just as suddenly penned in by four walls-the demons' pen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mo Yan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-swallowed-up-by-the-moon-and-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-swallowed-up-by-the-moon-and-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/mo-yan-11698_bird_a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-sw_2398959.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the moon, and he was just as suddenly penned in by…” — Mo Yan", "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": "Mo Yan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A sudden cloud formation of birds...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-swallowed-up-by-the-moon-and-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/a-sudden-cloud-formation-of-birds-was-swallowed-up-by-the-moon-and-he/#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 } } ] } ```