--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Drive my dead thoughts over the universe…" description: "\"Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unexti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07d/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_ashes_drive-my-dead-thoughts-over-the-universe_2515881.jpg" --- # Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered… ![“Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind, If Winter…” quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07d/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_ashes_drive-my-dead-thoughts-over-the-universe_2515881.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07d/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_ashes_drive-my-dead-thoughts-over-the-universe_2515881.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07d/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_ashes_drive-my-dead-thoughts-over-the-universe_2515881.jpg) > “Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet calls for thoughts to spread like leaves, igniting renewal and prophecy, urging change. **In simple terms:** Words should spread and inspire renewal. Key Takeaway Let your ideas inspire transformation. Themes renewal prophecy nature creativity Mood inspirational hopeful Type poetic motivational When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - activism - personal growth Key Concepts metaphor poetic imagination rebirth Questions to Reflect On - What message do you wish to broadcast? - How can you ensure your words reach the right audience? A Different Perspective Ideas may be misinterpreted or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [New Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-birth/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Prophecy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophecy/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Verses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verses/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter/) [Withered leaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/withered-leaves/) ## Related quotes > [O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/o-wind-if-winter-comes-can-spring-be-far-behind/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/if-winter-comes-can-spring-be-far-behind/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [In sober mornings do not thou rehearse The holy incantation of a verse;](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/in-sober-mornings-do-not-thou-rehearse-the-holy-incantation-of-a-verse/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/every-year-back-comes-spring-with-nasty-little-birds-yapping-their/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [“I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/i-sit-beside-the-fire-and-think-of-how-the-world-will-be-when-winter/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“I sit beside the fire and think Of all that I have seen Of meadow flowers and butterflies In summers that have been Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/i-sit-beside-the-fire-and-think-of-all-that-i-have-seen-of-meadow-2/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [It all comes down to when spring training comes. Do you want to go or don't you? If you want to go, you go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chili-davis/it-all-comes-down-to-when-spring-training-comes-do-you-want-to-go-or/) [Chili Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chili-davis/) > [Death, lonely death, Beneath the withered leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/death-lonely-death-beneath-the-withered-leaves/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [The most affluent may be stripped of all, and find his worldly comforts, like so many withered leaves, dropping from him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-most-affluent-may-be-stripped-of-all-and-find-his-worldly/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [“The wind I hear it sighing, with autumn's saddest sound; withered leaves all thick are lying, as spring-flowers on the ground. This dark night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-wind-i-hear-it-sighing-with-autumn-s-saddest-sound-withered/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Oh, would that my mind could let fall its dead ideas, as the tree does its withered leaves! And without too many regrets, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/oh-would-that-my-mind-could-let-fall-its-dead-ideas-as-the-tree-does-2/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [Fading, with the Night, the memory of a dead love, and the withered leaves of a blighted hope, and the sickly repinings and moody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/fading-with-the-night-the-memory-of-a-dead-love-and-the-withered/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [On me, on me Time and change can heap no more! The painful past with blighting grief Hath left my heart a withered leaf.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-horne/on-me-on-me-time-and-change-can-heap-no-more-the-painful-past-with/) Richard Henry Horne > [The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o'clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days. And now a gusty shower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-winter-evening-settles-down-with-smell-of-steaks-in-passageways/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Oh, would that my mind could let fall its dead ideas, as the tree does its withered leaves!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/oh-would-that-my-mind-could-let-fall-its-dead-ideas-as-the-tree-does/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) ## More by Percy Bysshe Shelley > [The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark--now glittering--now reflecting gloom-- Now lending splendour, where from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-everlasting-universe-of-things-flows-through-the-mind-and-rolls/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-quick-dreams-the-passion-winged-ministers-of-thought/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hail-to-thee-blithe-spirit/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The jealous keys of truth's eternal doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-jealous-keys-of-truth-s-eternal-doors/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Though we eat little flesh and drink no wine, Yet let's be merry; we'll have tea and toast; Custards for supper, and an endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/though-we-eat-little-flesh-and-drink-no-wine-yet-let-s-be-merry-we-ll/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [A dream has power to poison sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/a-dream-has-power-to-poison-sleep/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Titles are tinsel, power a corrupter, glorya bubble, and excessive wealth a libel on its possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/titles-are-tinsel-power-a-corrupter-glorya-bubble-and-excessive/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed !”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-fall-upon-the-thorns-of-life-i-bleed/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poets-and-philosophers-are-the-unacknowledged-legislators-of-the-world/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude To live alone, an isolated thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/dar-st-thou-amid-the-varied-multitude-to-live-alone-an-isolated-thing/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I love tranquil solitude, And such society As is quiet, wise, and good; Between thee and me What difference? but thou dost possess The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-love-tranquil-solitude-and-such-society-as-is-quiet-wise-and-good/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The practice of utter sincerity towards other men would avail to no good end, if they were incapable of practising it towards their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-practice-of-utter-sincerity-towards-other-men-would-avail-to-no/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow claspest the limits of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/thou-shoreless-flood-which-in-thy-ebb-and-flow-claspest-the-limits-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Senseless is the breast and cold Which relenting love would fold; Bloodless are the veins and chill Which the pulse of pain did fill;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/senseless-is-the-breast-and-cold-which-relenting-love-would-fold/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) [Explore all 533 Percy Bysshe Shelley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## More Ashes quotes > [You can flush my ashes down the toilet, for all I care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-flush-my-ashes-down-the-toilet-for-all-i-care/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't want to have a gravestone. I want to have all my friends burn me and then snort the ashes. I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-don-t-want-to-have-a-gravestone-i-want-to-have-all-my-friends-burn/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [He said that he will never let you cry,he will always be there for you no matter how hard the situation is,that he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhra/he-said-that-he-will-never-let-you-cry-he-will-always-be-there-for/) Zhra > [“The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-past-is-to-be-learned-from-but-not-lived-in-we-look-back-to-claim/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/man-is-a-noble-animal-splendid-in-ashes-and-pompous-in-the-grave/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/bury-us-and-mark-our-names-above-let-us-be-free/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anderson/there-is-nothing-quite-like-an-ashes-trip-down-under/) [James Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anderson/) > [I think momentum is huge in sport, especially in a series like the Ashes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stokes/i-think-momentum-is-huge-in-sport-especially-in-a-series-like-the/) [Ben Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stokes/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“When you burn a bridge, you have to be prepared to live with some ashes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-coppernoll/when-you-burn-a-bridge-you-have-to-be-prepared-to-live-with-some-ashes/) [Chris Coppernoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-coppernoll/) > [I would rather be ashes than dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) [Browse all 900 Ashes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! 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