Graves Quote by Seamus Heaney
“History says, Don’t hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme”
About This Quote
Source Poem: “The Harvest Bow” from The Haw Lantern, 1987
Justice can emerge dramatically, aligning hope with history when a powerful, rare event occurs.
In simple terms: Justice can rise like a tidal wave.
Key Takeaway
Seek moments of profound change.
Themes
justice
hope
history
change
Mood
hopeful
determined
Type
poetic
motivational
When to use this quote
- activism
- political reform
- community organizing
- education
Key Concepts
social movements
historical cycles
collective memory
Questions to Reflect On
- What can you do to prepare for justice’s arrival?
- How do you keep hope alive in stagnant times?
A Different Perspective
Such waves are rare and unpredictable.
![“One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest was Requiem for the Croppies, written 50 years after 1916 [the year of the Easter Rising]. Being responsible and what it means, what it demands, have indeed preoccupied me maybe too…” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5fb/seamus-heaney-1711_being-responsible_one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was_181491.jpg)
![“Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) [on which the poem is based] in a lecture I gave at Harvard in the fall of 2000 entitled Bright Boltsand remembered it after the Twin Towers attack.” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2e6/seamus-heaney-1711_anything-can-happen_anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally_181651.jpg)
