--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: His large ears Hear everything A hermit…" description: "\"“His large ears Hear everything A hermit wakes And sleeps in a hut Underneath His gaunt cheeks. His eyes blue, alert, Disappointed, And suspicious, Com..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e75/robert-bly-3269_desire_his-large-ears-hear-everything-a-hermit_609371.jpg" --- # His large ears Hear everything A hermit wakes And sleeps… ![“His large ears Hear everything A hermit wakes And sleeps in a hut Underneath His gaunt cheeks. His eyes blue, alert, Disappointed, And suspicious, Complain I Do not bring him The same sort of Jokes the nurses Do. He is a bird Waiting to be fed,— Mostly beak— an eagle Or a vulture, or The Pharoah's…” quote by Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e75/robert-bly-3269_desire_his-large-ears-hear-everything-a-hermit_609371.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e75/robert-bly-3269_desire_his-large-ears-hear-everything-a-hermit_609371.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e75/robert-bly-3269_desire_his-large-ears-hear-everything-a-hermit_609371.jpg) > ““His large ears Hear everything A hermit wakes And sleeps in a hut Underneath His gaunt cheeks. His eyes blue, alert, Disappointed, And suspicious, Complain I Do not bring him The same sort of Jokes the nurses Do. He is a bird Waiting to be fed,— Mostly beak— an eagle Or a vulture, or The Pharoah's servant Just before death. My arm on the bedrail Rests there, relaxed, With new love. All I know of the Troubadours I bring to this bed. I do not want Or need to be shamed By him any longer. The general of shame Has discharged Him, and left him In this small provincial Egyptian town. If I do not wish To shame him, then Why not love him? His long hands, Large, veined, Capable, can still Retain hold of what He wanted. But Is that what he Desireed? Some Powerful engine Of desire goes on Turning inside his body. He never phrased What he desired, And I am his son.”” [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem reflects on a marginalized figure, exploring themes of shame, desire, and the complex relationship between the speaker and the subject, suggesting empathy and love despite societal rejection. **In simple terms:** A lonely, judged person longs for love and acceptance despite being shamed. Key Takeaway Offer compassion instead of judgment. Themes shame desire empathy identity family Mood reflective somber hopeful Type poetic philosophical emotional When to use this quote - family dynamics - mental health support - community inclusion - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism psychology social marginalization Questions to Reflect On - How can we recognize and support those shamed by society? - What does love look like for someone labeled as a “general of shame”? A Different Perspective The poem’s abstract imagery may obscure concrete guidance for action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desireed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desireed-4951916/) [Hear Hermit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hear-hermit-4951915/) [Hermit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hermit/) [New Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-love/) [Shame Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame-love-2244371/) ## Related quotes > [She hugged me and I could feel the heat rise in my face, either from shame or love, like there was a difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/she-hugged-me-and-i-could-feel-the-heat-rise-in-my-face-either-from/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [“There is no shame in love, only completion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmilla-voiez/there-is-no-shame-in-love-only-completion/) [Carmilla Voiez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmilla-voiez/) > [“After she had gone he sat on alone, and the lie was still bitter to his spirit as he sat there, and he covered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radclyffe-hall/after-she-had-gone-he-sat-on-alone-and-the-lie-was-still-bitter-to/) [Radclyffe Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radclyffe-hall/) > [“Love may challenge and love may correct but love will never shame. Love may call us out to uncomfortable places but love will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-haymes/love-may-challenge-and-love-may-correct-but-love-will-never-shame/) [Peggy Haymes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-haymes/) > [Love taught him shame, and shame with love at strife Soon taught the sweet civilities of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/love-taught-him-shame-and-shame-with-love-at-strife-soon-taught-the/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The warrior for the True, the Right, Fights in Love's name; The love that lures thee from that fight Lures thee to shame: That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-thomas-de-vere/the-warrior-for-the-true-the-right-fights-in-love-s-name-the-love/) [Aubrey Thomas de Vere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-thomas-de-vere/) > [He loves the world so much. I agree it would be a shame to take that love away from meadow and tree, stream and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/he-loves-the-world-so-much-i-agree-it-would-be-a-shame-to-take-that/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [You will most appreciate 'Freddy and Fredericka' if you are familiar with the story of the Fall, the Good Hermit, 'Tom Jones,' 'Huckleberry Finn,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/you-will-most-appreciate-freddy-and-fredericka-if-you-are-familiar/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [You cannot succeed by yourself. It's hard to find a rich hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/you-cannot-succeed-by-yourself-it-s-hard-to-find-a-rich-hermit/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [“The hermit, without access to the news of the day, owes it to himself to be up to date on the doings of ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-tesson/the-hermit-without-access-to-the-news-of-the-day-owes-it-to-himself/) [Sylvain Tesson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-tesson/) > [Dealing with people literally makes me sick to my stomach. Can I be a hermit yet?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dealing-with-people-literally-makes-me-sick-to-my-stomach-can-i-be-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I, who so love a hermit life for a good part of the day, find myself living in public, and almost losing my identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-blackwell/i-who-so-love-a-hermit-life-for-a-good-part-of-the-day-find-myself/) [Elizabeth Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-blackwell/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Cancer and its aftermath changed my outlook in a profound way. I've become less of a hermit, and I travel more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bates/cancer-and-its-aftermath-changed-my-outlook-in-a-profound-way-i-ve/) [Kathy Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bates/) > [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/) ## More by Robert Bly > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [All of Japan once a year will get up on their rooftops, because that's the night that the shepherd boy from one side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/all-of-japan-once-a-year-will-get-up-on-their-rooftops-because-that-s/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I got about half the time I wanted to write poetry. I got about half the time I needed to be a father. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-got-about-half-the-time-i-wanted-to-write-poetry-i-got-about-half/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Every noon as the clock hands arrive at twelve, I want to tie the two arms together, And walk out of the bank carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-noon-as-the-clock-hands-arrive-at-twelve-i-want-to-tie-the-two/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Rumi is astounding, fertile, abundant, almost more an excitable library of poetry than a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/rumi-is-astounding-fertile-abundant-almost-more-an-excitable-library/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One could say the higher the spirit goes, the more deeply the soul sinks down into the waters of melancholy and tragedy. Drowning in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/one-could-say-the-higher-the-spirit-goes-the-more-deeply-the-soul/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Don't go outside your house to see flowers. My friend, don't bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/don-t-go-outside-your-house-to-see-flowers-my-friend-don-t-bother/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The models of adulthood are disappearing fast. How can two people have a new marriage if neither of them is an adult?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-models-of-adulthood-are-disappearing-fast-how-can-two-people-have/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One out of three black men are in the criminal justice system in some form. Their despair is beginning to resonate through the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/one-out-of-three-black-men-are-in-the-criminal-justice-system-in-some/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Sociological prose is generally written without images in an exact form for an academic audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/sociological-prose-is-generally-written-without-images-in-an-exact/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [We spend our life until we’re twenty deciding what parts of ourself to put into the bag, and we spend the rest of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/we-spend-our-life-until-we-re-twenty-deciding-what-parts-of-ourself/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Every modern male has, lying at the bottom of his psyche, a large, primitive being covered with hair down to his feet. Making contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-modern-male-has-lying-at-the-bottom-of-his-psyche-a-large/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [My feeling is that poetry is also a healing process, and then when a person tries to write poetry with depth or beauty, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/my-feeling-is-that-poetry-is-also-a-healing-process-and-then-when-a/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The ancestors are very much invested in the children, because the children are the ones who are going to continue the world that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-ancestors-are-very-much-invested-in-the-children-because-the/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) [Explore all 135 Robert Bly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“His large ears Hear everything A hermit wakes And sleeps in a hut Underneath His gaunt cheeks. His eyes blue, alert, Disappointed, And suspicious, Complain I Do not bring him The same sort of Jokes the nurses Do. He is a bird Waiting to be fed,— Mostly beak— an eagle Or a vulture, or The Pharoah's servant Just before death. My arm on the bedrail Rests there, relaxed, With new love. All I know of the Troubadours I bring to this bed. I do not want Or need to be shamed By him any longer. The general of shame Has discharged Him, and left him In this small provincial Egyptian town. If I do not wish To shame him, then Why not love him? 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