--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have known exile and a wild passion Of…" description: "\"I have known exile and a wild passion Of longing changing to a cold ache. King, beggar and fool , I have been all by turns, Knowing the body's sweetnes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/r-s-thomas-17783_ache_i-have-known-exile-and-a-wild-passion-of_2948723.jpg" --- # I have known exile and a wild passion Of longing changing… ![“I have known exile and a wild passion Of longing changing to a cold ache. King, beggar and fool , I have been all by turns, Knowing the body's sweetness, the mind 's treason ; Taliesin still, I show you a new world , risen, Stubborn with beauty , out of the heart 's need .” quote by R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/r-s-thomas-17783_ache_i-have-known-exile-and-a-wild-passion-of_2948723.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/r-s-thomas-17783_ache_i-have-known-exile-and-a-wild-passion-of_2948723.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/r-s-thomas-17783_ache_i-have-known-exile-and-a-wild-passion-of_2948723.jpg) > “I have known exile and a wild passion Of longing changing to a cold ache. King, beggar and fool , I have been all by turns, Knowing the body's sweetness, the mind 's treason ; Taliesin still, I show you a new world , risen, Stubborn with beauty , out of the heart 's need .” [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explores exile, longing, and the transformation of desire into ache, reflecting on identity, suffering, and creative rebirth. **In simple terms:** Exile turns longing into deep ache. Key Takeaway Embrace creative transformation. Themes exile longing identity creativity Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - artistic creation - mental health Key Concepts poetry spiritual yearning human condition Questions to Reflect On - How does longing shape art? - Can pain become beauty? A Different Perspective Exile can also foster resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [New world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-world/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Sweetness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweetness/) [Treason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treason/) [Wild passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wild-passion/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“But why are you really here now? You didn’t come to baby me.” She answered him with a kiss filled with all her passion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-savage/but-why-are-you-really-here-now-you-didn-t-come-to-baby-me-she/) [Vivienne Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-savage/) > [One of the things that we were trying to do with this show was the complexities of relationships and love. There is both passion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-burton/one-of-the-things-that-we-were-trying-to-do-with-this-show-was-the/) [Tim Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-burton/) > [“That kiss was amazing; it had all the passion and longing we had been holding onto for so long. That is when the dam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-smith/that-kiss-was-amazing-it-had-all-the-passion-and-longing-we-had-been/) [Megan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-smith/) > [I loved him as we always love the first time: with idolatry and wild passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-loved-him-as-we-always-love-the-first-time-with-idolatry-and-wild/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I loved him as we always love for the first time; with idolatry and wild passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-loved-him-as-we-always-love-for-the-first-time-with-idolatry-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is an evening twilight of the heart, When its wild passion-waves are lulled to rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fitz-greene-halleck/there-is-an-evening-twilight-of-the-heart-when-its-wild-passion-waves/) [Fitz-Greene Halleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fitz-greene-halleck/) > [You who love wild passions, flee the holy austerity of my pleasures. All here breathes of God, peace and truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-racine/you-who-love-wild-passions-flee-the-holy-austerity-of-my-pleasures/) [Jean Racine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-racine/) > [I like to be wild in passion and calculated in expression! I'm both. I like to be wild in passion more. But I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/i-like-to-be-wild-in-passion-and-calculated-in-expression-i-m-both-i/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [Medievalism, with its saints and martyrs, its love of self-torture, its wild passion for wounding itself, its gashing with knives, and its whipping with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/medievalism-with-its-saints-and-martyrs-its-love-of-self-torture-its/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I have seen so much obstructed potential among people who lack personal discipline, who just slough it off, whatever it is, and who think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-have-seen-so-much-obstructed-potential-among-people-who-lack/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [But who can describe the overweening pride of men? Or women mad with passion, reckless in their hearts, soulmates to every kind of ruin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/but-who-can-describe-the-overweening-pride-of-men-or-women-mad-with/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [A man who allows wild passion to arise within, himself burns his heart, then after burning adds the wind that thereto which ignites the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/a-man-who-allows-wild-passion-to-arise-within-himself-burns-his-heart/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I find myself continually falling back into wounds, wishes, terrors I thought I had risen beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-find-myself-continually-falling-back-into-wounds-wishes-terrors-i/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Lord Voldermort Has Risen Again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lord-voldermort-has-risen-again/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stigler/the-number-of-saintly-men-has-not-yet-risen-to-the-level-where-the/) [George Stigler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stigler/) ## More by R. S. Thomas > [Is there a place here for the spirit ? Is there time on this brief platform for anything other than mind 's failure to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/is-there-a-place-here-for-the-spirit-is-there-time-on-this-brief/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Now the power of the imagination is a unifying power, hence the force of metaphor; and the poet is the supreme manipulator of metaphor...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/now-the-power-of-the-imagination-is-a-unifying-power-hence-the-force/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [The deep spaces between stars , Fathomless as the cold shadow His mind cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/the-deep-spaces-between-stars-fathomless-as-the-cold-shadow-his-mind/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [To live in Wales is to be conscious at dusk of the spilled blood that went into the making of the wild sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/to-live-in-wales-is-to-be-conscious-at-dusk-of-the-spilled-blood-that/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Deliver me from the long drought of the mind. Let leaves from the deciduous Cross fall on us, washing us clean, turning our autumn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/deliver-me-from-the-long-drought-of-the-mind-let-leaves-from-the/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Art is recuperation from time. I lie back convalescing upon the prospect of a harvest already at hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/art-is-recuperation-from-time-i-lie-back-convalescing-upon-the/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [I'm obviously not orthodox, I don't know how many real poets have ever been orthodox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/i-m-obviously-not-orthodox-i-don-t-know-how-many-real-poets-have-ever/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [I have been all men known to history, Wondering at the world and at time passing; I have seen evil, and the light blessing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/i-have-been-all-men-known-to-history-wondering-at-the-world-and-at/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [I have nowhere to go. The swift satellites show The clock of my whole being is slow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/i-have-nowhere-to-go-the-swift-satellites-show-the-clock-of-my-whole/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [I turn now not to the Bible but to Wallace Stevens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/i-turn-now-not-to-the-bible-but-to-wallace-stevens/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Imaginative truth is the most immediate way of presenting ultimate reality to a human being... ultimate reality is what we call God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/imaginative-truth-is-the-most-immediate-way-of-presenting-ultimate/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [I am left alone on the surface of a turning planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/i-am-left-alone-on-the-surface-of-a-turning-planet/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Poetry is that / which arrives at the intellect / by way of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/poetry-is-that-which-arrives-at-the-intellect-by-way-of-the-heart/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [The silence holds with its gloved hand the wild hawk of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/the-silence-holds-with-its-gloved-hand-the-wild-hawk-of-the-mind/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Verse should be as natural As the small tuber that feeds on muck And grows slowly from obtuse soil To the white flower of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/verse-should-be-as-natural-as-the-small-tuber-that-feeds-on-muck-and/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) [Explore all 36 R. S. Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) ## More Ache quotes > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-lives-with-the-stress-of-an-overwhelmed-schedule-will/) [Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/) > [I ache for the touch of your lips dear, but much more for the touch of your whips dear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/i-ache-for-the-touch-of-your-lips-dear-but-much-more-for-the-touch-of/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [as we acquire new aches and new pains, our health care is, of necessity, being supplied by internists, cardiologists, dermatologists, podiatrists, urologists, periodontists, gynecologists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/as-we-acquire-new-aches-and-new-pains-our-health-care-is-of-necessity/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Jamie enjoyed solitude, but loneliness was a constant ache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-sheldon/jamie-enjoyed-solitude-but-loneliness-was-a-constant-ache/) [Sidney Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-sheldon/) > [Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/some-men-make-money-not-for-the-sake-of-living-but-ache-in-the/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Staring at her face, she began to fancy her outer layer had begun to melt away while she wasn't paying attention, and something --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/staring-at-her-face-she-began-to-fancy-her-outer-layer-had-begun-to/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [An emotion is a thought, yes, an idea, but it is also a sensation, an ache in your body. Desire, love, hate, fear, repulsion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/an-emotion-is-a-thought-yes-an-idea-but-it-is-also-a-sensation-an/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/he-that-sleeps-feels-not-the-tooth-ache/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I will live this day as if it is my last. …I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, Yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/i-will-live-this-day-as-if-it-is-my-last-i-will-waste-not-a-moment/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) Browse all 489 Ache quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have known exile and a wild passion Of longing changing to a cold ache. 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