--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sky puts on the darkening blue coat…" description: "\"The sky puts on the darkening blue coat held for it by a row of ancient trees; you watch: and the lands grow distant in your sight, one journeying to h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/rainer-maria-rilke-193_ancient_the-sky-puts-on-the-darkening-blue-coat_3191080.jpg" --- # The sky puts on the darkening blue coat held for it by a… ![“The sky puts on the darkening blue coat held for it by a row of ancient trees; you watch: and the lands grow distant in your sight, one journeying to heaven, one that falls; and leave you, not at home in either one, not quite so still and dark as the darkened houses, not calling to eternity with…” quote by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/rainer-maria-rilke-193_ancient_the-sky-puts-on-the-darkening-blue-coat_3191080.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/rainer-maria-rilke-193_ancient_the-sky-puts-on-the-darkening-blue-coat_3191080.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/rainer-maria-rilke-193_ancient_the-sky-puts-on-the-darkening-blue-coat_3191080.jpg) > “The sky puts on the darkening blue coat held for it by a row of ancient trees; you watch: and the lands grow distant in your sight, one journeying to heaven, one that falls; and leave you, not at home in either one, not quite so still and dark as the darkened houses, not calling to eternity with the passion of what becomes a star each night, and rises; and leave you (inexpressibly to unravel) your life, with its immensity and fear, so that, now bounded, now immeasurable it is alternately stone in you and star.” [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## 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 reflects on life's vastness, fear, and the tension between earthly limits and celestial aspirations, using nature imagery to convey existential longing. **In simple terms:** Life feels both huge and frightening, caught between earth and sky. Key Takeaway Embrace both grounded reality and lofty dreams. Themes existential nature longing fear aspiration Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - contemplation - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts cosmos identity transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance awe with daily responsibilities? - What grounds you when you feel infinite? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize suffering, overlooking practical coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-trees/) [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Immensity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immensity/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Sunset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunset/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [“If you want to know life in its immensity, you need something more than your thoughts, your logic, or your intellect”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadguru/if-you-want-to-know-life-in-its-immensity-you-need-something-more/) Sadguru > [Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed,-chased and hunted down as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/any-fool-can-destroy-trees-they-cannot-run-away-and-if-they-could-3/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [It was the noise Of ancient trees falling while all was still Before the storm, in the long interval Between the gathering clouds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-godfrey-leland/it-was-the-noise-of-ancient-trees-falling-while-all-was-still-before/) [Charles Godfrey Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-godfrey-leland/) > [“She stood in the high pines along the eastern edge of the camp that ran downhill toward the river. She had a place there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-cutter/she-stood-in-the-high-pines-along-the-eastern-edge-of-the-camp-that/) Kimberly Cutter > [If ever you come upon a grove of ancient trees which have grown to an exceptional height, shutting out a view of sky by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/if-ever-you-come-upon-a-grove-of-ancient-trees-which-have-grown-to-an/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“They drank from a spring which filled an ancient stone trough behind the ruin. Beyond it lay overgrown beds and plants John had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-norfolk/they-drank-from-a-spring-which-filled-an-ancient-stone-trough-behind/) [Lawrence Norfolk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-norfolk/) > [Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed-chased and hunted down as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/any-fool-can-destroy-trees-they-cannot-run-away-and-if-they-could/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Trees have from time immemorial been closely associated with magic. These stout members of the vegetable kingdom may stand for as long as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-cunningham/trees-have-from-time-immemorial-been-closely-associated-with-magic/) [Scott Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-cunningham/) > [Your God still walks in Eden, between the ancient trees, Where Youth and Love go wading through pools of primroses. And this is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-noyes/your-god-still-walks-in-eden-between-the-ancient-trees-where-youth/) [Alfred Noyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-noyes/) > [When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-enter-a-grove-peopled-with-ancient-trees-higher-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There was a silence. The evening darkened in the room. Noiselessly and with silver feet the shadows crept in from the garden. The colours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-was-a-silence-the-evening-darkened-in-the-room-noiselessly-and/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Time, like a flurry of wild rain, Shall drift across the darkened pane!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-g-d-roberts/time-like-a-flurry-of-wild-rain-shall-drift-across-the-darkened-pane/) [Charles G.D. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-g-d-roberts/) > [The glass of your life is darkened, and darkly through it you see distorted and ghastly fragments of duty and destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-arnold/the-glass-of-your-life-is-darkened-and-darkly-through-it-you-see/) [George Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-arnold/) > [“When you focus on what you don’t have or on situations that displease you, your mind also becomes darkened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-young/when-you-focus-on-what-you-don-t-have-or-on-situations-that-displease/) [Sarah Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-young/) > [Wen daylight turns to a darkened hue, D lovely stars hinting at u, ur heart beat tells u something true, That some 1 badly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butterfly-kisses/wen-daylight-turns-to-a-darkened-hue-d-lovely-stars-hinting-at-u-ur/) Butterfly\_Kisses ## More by Rainer Maria Rilke > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-love-the-dark-hours-of-my-being-my-mind-deepens-into-them-there-i/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“A complete sharing between two people is an impossibility and whenever it seems, nevertheless, to exist, it is a narrowing, a mutual agreement which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/a-complete-sharing-between-two-people-is-an-impossibility-and/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“But this is what ... people are so often and disastrously wrong in doing: they (who by their very nature are impatient) fling themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/but-this-is-what-people-are-so-often-and-disastrously-wrong-in-doing/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“If there is nothing you can share with other people, try to be close to Things. Things will not abandon you. The nights are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/if-there-is-nothing-you-can-share-with-other-people-try-to-be-close/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [To be here is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/to-be-here-is-immense/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Sin is the most wonderfully roundabout path to God”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/sin-is-the-most-wonderfully-roundabout-path-to-god/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Swells, Marina? we ocean, depths, Marina? we sky!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/swells-marina-we-ocean-depths-marina-we-sky/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-point-of-marriage-is-not-to-create-a-quick-commonality-by-tearing/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [You life will find its own paths... and that they be good, rich, and wide is what I wish for you, more than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/you-life-will-find-its-own-paths-and-that-they-be-good-rich-and-wide/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I do not want to be folded for where I am folded, there I am a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-do-not-want-to-be-folded-for-where-i-am-folded-there-i-am-a-lie/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/at-no-other-time-than-autumn-does-the-earth-let-itself-be-inhaled-in/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“That is why the sadness passes: the new presence inside us, the presence that has been added, has entered our heart, has gone into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/that-is-why-the-sadness-passes-the-new-presence-inside-us-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms, like books written in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/have-patience-with-everything-that-remains-unsolved-in-your-heart-try/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) [Explore all 861 Rainer Maria Rilke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. 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