--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on…" description: "\"“XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on - why, there! What bad use was that engine for, that wheel, Or brake, not wheel - that harrow fit to reel Men'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg" --- # XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on - why, there! What… ![“XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on - why, there! What bad use was that engine for, that wheel, Or brake, not wheel - that harrow fit to reel Men's bodies out like silk? With all the air Of Tophet's tool, on earth left unaware Or brought to sharpen its rusty teeth of steel. XXV. Then came a…” quote by Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg) > ““XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on - why, there! What bad use was that engine for, that wheel, Or brake, not wheel - that harrow fit to reel Men's bodies out like silk? With all the air Of Tophet's tool, on earth left unaware Or brought to sharpen its rusty teeth of steel. XXV. Then came a bit of stubbed ground, once a wood, Next a marsh it would seem, and now mere earth Desperate and done with; (so a fool finds mirth, Makes a thing and then mars it, till his mood Changes and off he goes!) within a rood - Bog, clay and rubble, sand, and stark black dearth. XXVI. Now blotches rankling, coloured gay and grim, Now patches where some leanness of the soil's Broke into moss, or substances like boils; Then came some palsied oak, a cleft in him Like a distorted mouth that splits its rim Gaping at death, and dies while it recoils. XXVII. And just as far as ever from the end! Naught in the distance but the evening, naught To point my footstep further! At the thought, A great black bird, Apollyon's bosom friend, Sailed past, not best his wide wing dragon-penned That brushed my cap - perchance the guide I sought. XXVIII. For, looking up, aware I somehow grew, Spite of the dusk, the plain had given place All round to mountains - with such name to grace Mere ugly heights and heaps now stolen in view. How thus they had surprised me - solve it, you! How to get from them was no clearer case. XXIX. Yet half I seemed to recognise some trick Of mischief happened to me, God knows when - In a bad dream perhaps. Here ended, then Progress this way. When, in the very nick Of giving up, one time more, came a click As when a trap shuts - you're inside the den. XXX. Burningly it came on me all at once, This was the place! those two hills on the right, Crouched like two bulls locked horn in horn in fight; While to the left a tall scalped mountain ... Dunce, Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, After a life spent training for the sight! XXXI. What in the midst lay but the Tower itself? The round squat turret, blind as the fool's heart, Built of brown stone, without a counterpart In the whole world. The tempest's mocking elf Points to the shipman thus the unseen shelf He strikes on, only when the timbers start. XXXII. Not see? because of night perhaps? - why day Came back again for that! before it left The dying sunset kindled through a cleft: The hills, like giants at a hunting, lay, Chin upon hand, to see the game at bay, - Now stab and end the creature - to the heft!' XXXIII. Not hear? When noise was everywhere! it tolled Increasing like a bell. Names in my ears Of all the lost adventurers, my peers - How such a one was strong, and such was bold, And such was fortunate, yet each of old Lost, lost! one moment knelled the woe of years. XXXIV. There they stood, ranged along the hillsides, met To view the last of me, a living frame For one more picture! In a sheet of flame I saw them and I knew them all. And yet Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set, And blew. 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.”” [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## 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 portrays a chaotic, desolate landscape filled with decay and darkness, reflecting inner turmoil and the struggle to find direction amid confusion **In simple terms:** A bleak, confusing world mirrors inner confusion and struggle Key Takeaway Navigate through chaos with awareness Themes desolation confusion nature inner turmoil journey Mood somber introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - exploring personal crises - writing about mental health - using metaphor in therapy - studying Victorian poetry - creating art from chaotic scenes Key Concepts symbolism existentialism poetic imagery Questions to Reflect On - What does the black bird symbolize in this turmoil? - How can one find purpose in a seemingly barren landscape? A Different Perspective The vivid darkness may overwhelm, limiting hopeful interpretation ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-dream/) [Mood Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mood-change/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) ## Related quotes > [What I wear is everything - from how I carry my hair to what I'm wearing on my feet. I have to feel comfortable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mvula/what-i-wear-is-everything-from-how-i-carry-my-hair-to-what-i-m/) [Laura Mvula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mvula/) > [“But I can’t stop thinking about the ocean. It got in my head. The roar it makes—both peaceful and angry. The way its mood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarryn-fisher/but-i-can-t-stop-thinking-about-the-ocean-it-got-in-my-head-the-roar/) [Tarryn Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarryn-fisher/) > [They can become very irritated. They can become very aggressive. Not all Alzheimer's patients are that way, but many are. My mother was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-aga-khan/they-can-become-very-irritated-they-can-become-very-aggressive-not/) [Yasmin Aga Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-aga-khan/) > [“It’s a popular belief in Sakhalin that a pretty woman’s mood changes as fast as the weather on the island.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajay-kamalakaran/it-s-a-popular-belief-in-sakhalin-that-a-pretty-woman-s-mood-changes/) Ajay Kamalakaran > [Every lady deserves that guy who would not count her mistakes, who will apologize even if he did no wrong, who will hold her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tshepo-koos-maluleke/every-lady-deserves-that-guy-who-would-not-count-her-mistakes-who/) [Tshepo Koos Maluleke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tshepo-koos-maluleke/) > [Its amazing how quickly your mood can change, how deep your heart can sink and how much one person can affect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-amazing-how-quickly-your-mood-can-change-how-deep-your-heart-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He smiled and kissed me. It wasn't precisely a peck on the lips, and my wild vampiric reactions took me off guard yet again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/he-smiled-and-kissed-me-it-wasn-t-precisely-a-peck-on-the-lips-and-my/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [I love the Weather Channel because my mood changes a lot according to the weather!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefano-gabbana/i-love-the-weather-channel-because-my-mood-changes-a-lot-according-to/) [Stefano Gabbana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefano-gabbana/) > [It's amazing how quickly your mood can change, how deep your heart can sink and how much one person can affect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-amazing-how-quickly-your-mood-can-change-how-deep-your-heart-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Its amazing how quickly your mood change , how deep your heart can sink and how much one person can affect u .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiz/its-amazing-how-quickly-your-mood-change-how-deep-your-heart-can-sink/) [Kiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiz/) > [Everytime, I see your face my mood changes.. especially when I see your adorable smile.. even though we've been together for so long now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megannn/everytime-i-see-your-face-my-mood-changes-especially-when-i-see-your/) Megannn > [YouMatter These 2 words can change your mood, change your mind; change your heart http://bit.ly/p3x8MA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-m/youmatter-these-2-words-can-change-your-mood-change-your-mind-change/) Angela M > [Work to make a bunch of small splashes, and let the ripples spread naturally. If you want to change a persons mind or mood,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/work-to-make-a-bunch-of-small-splashes-and-let-the-ripples-spread/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [If I don't do anything for two or three days in a row, I feel really grumpy. My mood changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hoy/if-i-don-t-do-anything-for-two-or-three-days-in-a-row-i-feel-really/) [Chris Hoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hoy/) > [I remember, when I was young, How easily my mood changed from sad to gay. ... But now that age comes, A moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bai-juyi/i-remember-when-i-was-young-how-easily-my-mood-changed-from-sad-to/) [Bai Juyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bai-juyi/) ## More by Robert Browning > [I would have rummaged, ransacked at the word; Those old odd corners of an empty heart; For remnants of dim love the long disused,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-would-have-rummaged-ransacked-at-the-word-those-old-odd-corners-of/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [All service ranks the same with God,- With God, whose puppets, best and worst, Are we: there is no last nor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/all-service-ranks-the-same-with-god-with-god-whose-puppets-best-and/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-was-ever-a-fighter-so-one-fight-more-the-best-and-the-last-i-would/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [But how carve way i' the life that lies before, If bent on groaning ever for the past?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/but-how-carve-way-i-the-life-that-lies-before-if-bent-on-groaning/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [If you get simple beauty and naught else, you get about the best thing God invents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/if-you-get-simple-beauty-and-naught-else-you-get-about-the-best-thing/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/how-good-is-man-s-life-the-mere-living-how-fit-to-employ-all-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The ultimate, angels' law, Indulging every instinct of the soul There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-ultimate-angels-law-indulging-every-instinct-of-the-soul-there/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/grow-old-along-with-me-the-best-is-yet-to-be-the-last-of-life-for/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Look not down but up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/look-not-down-but-up/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [What a thing friendship is - World without end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/what-a-thing-friendship-is-world-without-end/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Explore all 386 Robert Browning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## More Bad dream quotes > [“The other day Nan said, 'Nothing can ever be quite the same for any of us again.' It made me feel rebellious. Why shouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/the-other-day-nan-said-nothing-can-ever-be-quite-the-same-for-any-of/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“For a moment Dustfinger felt as if he had never been away- as if he had simply had a bad dream, and the memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/for-a-moment-dustfinger-felt-as-if-he-had-never-been-away-as-if-he/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“Ben and Freda were happy for Cindy. She had recovered from the horrible abuses she had suffered the previous year. Her last bad dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shafter-bailey/ben-and-freda-were-happy-for-cindy-she-had-recovered-from-the/) [Shafter Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shafter-bailey/) > [“The only bad dreams are those not worth chasing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-bad-dreams-are-those-not-worth-chasing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [The past was like a bad dream; the future was all happy holiday as I moved Southwards week by week, easily, lazily, lingering as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/the-past-was-like-a-bad-dream-the-future-was-all-happy-holiday-as-i/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [I pray that fear would just be a dream, a bad dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anastasia-blanchard/i-pray-that-fear-would-just-be-a-dream-a-bad-dream/) [Anastasia Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anastasia-blanchard/) > [“Don't let what's happened spoil your life; it doesn't have to. If help is offered, take it if you want it. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-3/don-t-let-what-s-happened-spoil-your-life-it-doesn-t-have-to-if-help/) P D James > [“Tina thought about the idea of how much a person could take. People only survived because they turned the real into the surreal. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-trope/tina-thought-about-the-idea-of-how-much-a-person-could-take-people/) [Nicole Trope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-trope/) > [I hate having bad dreams about the people I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-hate-having-bad-dreams-about-the-people-i-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I only have two kinds of dreams: the bad and the terrible. Bad dreams I can cope with. They're just nightmares, and they end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-only-have-two-kinds-of-dreams-the-bad-and-the-terrible-bad-dreams-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [When you are having bad dreams, turn your pillow over. The good dreams are on the other side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohit/when-you-are-having-bad-dreams-turn-your-pillow-over-the-good-dreams/) [Rohit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohit/) > [“By now you must have guessed: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, Take me to your leaders. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/by-now-you-must-have-guessed-i-come-from-another-planet-but-i-will/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Sometimes life begins like a bad dream and ends up like a kid's fairytale. The kind our grandmothers used to tell us about sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-kakalopoulou/sometimes-life-begins-like-a-bad-dream-and-ends-up-like-a-kid-s/) [Georgia Kakalopoulou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-kakalopoulou/) > [Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by. -Jack Sparrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirates-of-the-caribbean/close-your-eyes-and-pretend-it-s-all-a-bad-dream-that-s-how-i-get-by/) Pirates Of The Caribbean [Browse all 257 Bad dream quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-dream/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on - why, there! What bad use was that engine for, that wheel, Or brake, not wheel - that harrow fit to reel Men's bodies out like silk? With all the air Of Tophet's tool, on earth left unaware Or brought to sharpen its rusty teeth of steel. XXV. Then came a bit of stubbed ground, once a wood, Next a marsh it would seem, and now mere earth Desperate and done with; (so a fool finds mirth, Makes a thing and then mars it, till his mood Changes and off he goes!) within a rood - Bog, clay and rubble, sand, and stark black dearth. XXVI. Now blotches rankling, coloured gay and grim, Now patches where some leanness of the soil's Broke into moss, or substances like boils; Then came some palsied oak, a cleft in him Like a distorted mouth that splits its rim Gaping at death, and dies while it recoils. XXVII. And just as far as ever from the end! Naught in the distance but the evening, naught To point my footstep further! At the thought, A great black bird, Apollyon's bosom friend, Sailed past, not best his wide wing dragon-penned That brushed my cap - perchance the guide I sought. XXVIII. For, looking up, aware I somehow grew, Spite of the dusk, the plain had given place All round to mountains - with such name to grace Mere ugly heights and heaps now stolen in view. How thus they had surprised me - solve it, you! How to get from them was no clearer case. XXIX. Yet half I seemed to recognise some trick Of mischief happened to me, God knows when - In a bad dream perhaps. Here ended, then Progress this way. When, in the very nick Of giving up, one time more, came a click As when a trap shuts - you're inside the den. XXX. Burningly it came on me all at once, This was the place! those two hills on the right, Crouched like two bulls locked horn in horn in fight; While to the left a tall scalped mountain ... Dunce, Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, After a life spent training for the sight! XXXI. What in the midst lay but the Tower itself? The round squat turret, blind as the fool's heart, Built of brown stone, without a counterpart In the whole world. The tempest's mocking elf Points to the shipman thus the unseen shelf He strikes on, only when the timbers start. XXXII. Not see? because of night perhaps? - why day Came back again for that! before it left The dying sunset kindled through a cleft: The hills, like giants at a hunting, lay, Chin upon hand, to see the game at bay, - Now stab and end the creature - to the heft!' XXXIII. Not hear? When noise was everywhere! it tolled Increasing like a bell. Names in my ears Of all the lost adventurers, my peers - How such a one was strong, and such was bold, And such was fortunate, yet each of old Lost, lost! one moment knelled the woe of years. XXXIV. There they stood, ranged along the hillsides, met To view the last of me, a living frame For one more picture! In a sheet of flame I saw them and I knew them all. And yet Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set, And blew. 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Browning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why-there-what-bad-use-was-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bad dream" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why-there-what-bad-use-was-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/robert-browning-734_bad-dream_xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why_2399436.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“XXIV. And more than that - a furlong on - why, there! What bad use was that engine for, that wheel, Or…” — Robert Browning", "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": "Robert Browning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“XXIV. And more than that -...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why-there-what-bad-use-was-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/xxiv-and-more-than-that-a-furlong-on-why-there-what-bad-use-was-that/#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 } } ] } ```