--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the darkness as we lie side by side…" description: "\"“In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my right hand. We listen to the cries of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f50/sebastian-barry-3654_darkness_in-the-darkness-as-we-lie-side-by-side-j_11091.jpg" --- # In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left… ![“In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my right hand. We listen to the cries of the night revellers outside and hear the horses tramping along the ways. We're holding hands then like lovers who have just met or how we imagine…” quote by Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f50/sebastian-barry-3654_darkness_in-the-darkness-as-we-lie-side-by-side-j_11091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f50/sebastian-barry-3654_darkness_in-the-darkness-as-we-lie-side-by-side-j_11091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f50/sebastian-barry-3654_darkness_in-the-darkness-as-we-lie-side-by-side-j_11091.jpg) > ““In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my right hand. We listen to the cries of the night revellers outside and hear the horses tramping along the ways. We're holding hands then like lovers who have just met or how we imagine lovers might be in the unknown realm where lovers act as lovers without concealment.”” [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid scene of intimate connection amid chaotic surroundings, highlighting how love can feel both immediate and transcendent despite external turmoil. **In simple terms:** Intimacy amid chaos Key Takeaway Love can be a refuge in disorder Themes intimacy conflict imagined love transcendence solitude Mood nostalgic intense reflective Type literary romantic descriptive When to use this quote - a quiet moment with a partner - a secret meeting during a noisy event - a reflective night in a bustling city - a clandestine encounter in a war-torn setting Key Concepts hand-holding night sounds horses imagined lovers Practical Applications - writing evocative romance scenes - exploring contrast between inner peace and outer chaos Questions to Reflect On - How does intimacy alter perception of surrounding turmoil? - What does the imagined lover represent in this context? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gay/) [Holding hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holding-hands/) [Left hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-hand/) [Lgbt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lgbt/) [Like Lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-lovers-367353/) [Lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers/) [Lovers Concealment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers-concealment-367355/) [Lovers Unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers-unknown-367354/) [Right hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-hand/) [Side by side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/side-by-side/) ## Related quotes > [“We're holding hands then like lovers who have just met or how we imagine lovers might be in the unknown realm where lovers act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/we-re-holding-hands-then-like-lovers-who-have-just-met-or-how-we/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“Hell, yes," Dev says, sitting up now. "Don't get me wrong - we're totally going to make the beast with two backs tonight. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/hell-yes-dev-says-sitting-up-now-don-t-get-me-wrong-we-re-totally/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Like This If anyone asks you how the perfect satisfaction of all our sexual wanting will look, lift your face and say, Like this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mawlana-jalal-al-din-rumi/like-this-if-anyone-asks-you-how-the-perfect-satisfaction-of-all-our/) [Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mawlana-jalal-al-din-rumi/) > [Real relationship is when u can talk like friends, flirt like first lovers and fight like married couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arushi-tanwar/real-relationship-is-when-u-can-talk-like-friends-flirt-like-first/) [Arushi Tanwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arushi-tanwar/) > [Radical Islam and US exceptionalism are in bed with each other. They're like lovers, methinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cusack/radical-islam-and-us-exceptionalism-are-in-bed-with-each-other-they/) [John Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cusack/) > [The Best Relationship is when You Two can act like LOVERS and BEST FRIENDS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myself/the-best-relationship-is-when-you-two-can-act-like-lovers-and-best/) [Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myself/) > [If my subject is alive and is willing to talk to me, I will do it. But I always try to find people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-ramirez/if-my-subject-is-alive-and-is-willing-to-talk-to-me-i-will-do-it-but/) [Edgar Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-ramirez/) > [“I want to take it easy, take it slow To catch a fire and let it go I wanna give myself to you So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-nova/i-want-to-take-it-easy-take-it-slow-to-catch-a-fire-and-let-it-go-i/) [Heather Nova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-nova/) > [“Doesn’t Nemesis fly one of these?” She turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Are you he?” His features were impassive. “We’re really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/doesn-t-nemesis-fly-one-of-these-she-turned-to-look-at-him-over-her/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [If you fight like a married couple, talk like best-friends, flirt like first lovers, protect each other like siblings, you're meant to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bloods/if-you-fight-like-a-married-couple-talk-like-best-friends-flirt-like-2/) [Bloods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bloods/) > [If you fight like a married couple, talk like best friends, flirt like first lovers and protect each other like siblings, then you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indiie-aroha-young/if-you-fight-like-a-married-couple-talk-like-best-friends-flirt-like/) [Indiie Aroha Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indiie-aroha-young/) > [“Our favorite stories can be like lovers. Make sense to me, we ask them. Make sense of me. Here, fix these hurting parts. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-febos/our-favorite-stories-can-be-like-lovers-make-sense-to-me-we-ask-them/) [Melissa Febos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-febos/) > [Best relationship? When you can act like lovers and best friends at the same time. With no worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-kolhoff/best-relationship-when-you-can-act-like-lovers-and-best-friends-at/) [Carson Kolhoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-kolhoff/) > [The best relationship is when you act like lovers and best friends at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-relationship-is-when-you-act-like-lovers-and-best-friends-at/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let's kneel down through all the worlds of the body like lovers. I know I am a tree and full of life and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-hogan/let-s-kneel-down-through-all-the-worlds-of-the-body-like-lovers-i/) [Linda Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-hogan/) ## More by Sebastian Barry > [“As I do not seem able much to heal, then maybe I can simply be a responsible witness to the miracle of the ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/as-i-do-not-seem-able-much-to-heal-then-maybe-i-can-simply-be-a/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“His people had hogs there till the bottom fell out of hogs. The bottom was always falling out of something in America far as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/his-people-had-hogs-there-till-the-bottom-fell-out-of-hogs-the-bottom/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“Spring comes into Massachusetts with her famous flame. God’s breath warming the winter out of things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/spring-comes-into-massachusetts-with-her-famous-flame-god-s-breath/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [And whatever my life had been up to that day, it was another life after that. And that is the gospel truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/and-whatever-my-life-had-been-up-to-that-day-it-was-another-life/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“The knives opened the flesh like they were painting paintings of a new country, sheer plains of dark land, with the red rivers bursting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/the-knives-opened-the-flesh-like-they-were-painting-paintings-of-a/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“I suppose therefore God is the connoisseur of filthied hearts and souls, and can see the old, the first pattern in them, and cherish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-suppose-therefore-god-is-the-connoisseur-of-filthied-hearts-and/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“There is a craziness in it all that betokens a kind of delicious freedom. Notions are cast off. If only for a moment. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/there-is-a-craziness-in-it-all-that-betokens-a-kind-of-delicious/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [He loved telling stories. He had been everywhere in the world. The northwest frontier, the landscape of the Hindu Kush, was one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/he-loved-telling-stories-he-had-been-everywhere-in-the-world-the/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“Our smiles mostly for each other, and every stranger a possible demon or bear, till they proved otherwise”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/our-smiles-mostly-for-each-other-and-every-stranger-a-possible-demon/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“It is always worth itemizing happiness, there is so much of the other thing in a life, you had better put down the markers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/it-is-always-worth-itemizing-happiness-there-is-so-much-of-the-other/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“I wonder if I were to have an X-ray at the little hospital, would the machine see my grief? Is it like rust, arheum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-wonder-if-i-were-to-have-an-x-ray-at-the-little-hospital-would-the/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“No one says too much and what is said is only light-hearted and bantering because we want to preserve our advantage over fear. Fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/no-one-says-too-much-and-what-is-said-is-only-light-hearted-and/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“They say we are creatures raised by God above the animals but any man that has lived knows that’s damned lies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/they-say-we-are-creatures-raised-by-god-above-the-animals-but-any-man/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“There is a moment in the history of every beaten child when his mind parts with hopes of dignity — pushes off hope like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/there-is-a-moment-in-the-history-of-every-beaten-child-when-his-mind/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [Because faithfulness is not a human question, but a divine one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/because-faithfulness-is-not-a-human-question-but-a-divine-one/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) [Explore all 125 Sebastian Barry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my right hand. We listen to the cries of the night revellers outside and hear the horses tramping along the ways. 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