--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And he walked off down the path with his…" description: "\"“And he walked off down the path with his jaunty, independent stride. And I stood there where he left me, tremulous with love and longing, weeping in t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/sylvia-plath-149_longing_and-he-walked-off-down-the-path-with-his_144897.jpg" --- # And he walked off down the path with his jaunty… ![“And he walked off down the path with his jaunty, independent stride. And I stood there where he left me, tremulous with love and longing, weeping in the dark. That night it was hard to get to sleep.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/sylvia-plath-149_longing_and-he-walked-off-down-the-path-with-his_144897.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/sylvia-plath-149_longing_and-he-walked-off-down-the-path-with-his_144897.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/sylvia-plath-149_longing_and-he-walked-off-down-the-path-with-his_144897.jpg) > ““And he walked off down the path with his jaunty, independent stride. And I stood there where he left me, tremulous with love and longing, weeping in the dark. That night it was hard to get to sleep.”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A lover departs, leaving the narrator trembling with love, longing, and sleeplessness. **In simple terms:** A lover leaves, causing deep longing and insomnia. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and process emotional pain. Themes love longing loss solitude nighttime Mood melancholic intense Type poetic emotional When to use this quote - nighttime reflection - journaling - therapy - artistic expression - support groups Key Concepts romantic melancholy psychological introspection Questions to Reflect On - What does the night symbolize for the narrator? - How can one heal after such loss? A Different Perspective May romanticize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longing Weeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing-weeping-1627566/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love And Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-and-longing/) [Walked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walked/) [Walked Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walked-path-1327420/) [Weeping Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping-dark-1627565/) ## Related quotes > [Our legs begin to break, we've walked this path for far too long. My lungs, they start to ache but still we carry on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bring-me-the-horizon/our-legs-begin-to-break-we-ve-walked-this-path-for-far-too-long-my/) [Bring Me The Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bring-me-the-horizon/) > [“If I came to you and we walked the path together, would I be your guide, or would you be mine?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-packard/if-i-came-to-you-and-we-walked-the-path-together-would-i-be-your/) [Roxanne Packard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxanne-packard/) > [I've never walked the same path other people found comfortable and I'm not going to start now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lora-leigh/i-ve-never-walked-the-same-path-other-people-found-comfortable-and-i/) [Lora Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lora-leigh/) > [“Short on all the things I don't want, I'm full of love and longing. Take me by the hand and tell me, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-quin/short-on-all-the-things-i-don-t-want-i-m-full-of-love-and-longing/) [Sara Quin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-quin/) > [Dont expect anyone to understand your journey, especially if they havent walked your path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhat/dont-expect-anyone-to-understand-your-journey-especially-if-they/) [Zhat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhat/) > [Don't expect anyone to understand your journey, especially if they've never walked your path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-expect-anyone-to-understand-your-journey-especially-if-they-ve/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“With my immeasurable inner light, I have built a rainbow bridge of love all the way back to heaven. I once walked the path…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-anne-talpa/with-my-immeasurable-inner-light-i-have-built-a-rainbow-bridge-of/) [Heather Anne Talpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-anne-talpa/) > [“The sharp scents made my throat ache. I had been up such hillsides before, and smelled these same spring scents. But then the pine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/the-sharp-scents-made-my-throat-ache-i-had-been-up-such-hillsides/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [For me, I have never walked a path that has been carefully crafted or charted. I have gone into territory unknown on many an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smriti-irani/for-me-i-have-never-walked-a-path-that-has-been-carefully-crafted-or/) [Smriti Irani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smriti-irani/) > [I've walked my path had worlds collide I lost my way and I fooled my pride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-etheridge/i-ve-walked-my-path-had-worlds-collide-i-lost-my-way-and-i-fooled-my/) [Melissa Etheridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-etheridge/) > [“In North Carolina, I stopped to gas up at a Humble Oil station, then walked around the corner to use the toilet. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-north-carolina-i-stopped-to-gas-up-at-a-humble-oil-station-then/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Christ walked the path every mortal is called to walk so that he would know how to succor and strengthen us in our most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/christ-walked-the-path-every-mortal-is-called-to-walk-so-that-he/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [“scrub oak trees. Kieran was leaning against him, pinning him to the tree, and they were kissing. Cristina hesitated a moment, blood rising into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/scrub-oak-trees-kieran-was-leaning-against-him-pinning-him-to-the/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“People have rituals for communing with the dead, rituals that depend more on the idiosyncrasies of the individual than on the influence of culture.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/people-have-rituals-for-communing-with-the-dead-rituals-that-depend/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [“I have accepted that this is how it’s going to be that love and longing are going to take turns to sleep with me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakshi-narula/i-have-accepted-that-this-is-how-it-s-going-to-be-that-love-and/) [Sakshi Narula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakshi-narula/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Longing quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/) [Kevin O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-brien/) > [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/) > [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/) [Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) [Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And he walked off down the path with his jaunty, independent stride. And I stood there where he left me, tremulous with love and longing, weeping in the dark. 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