--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Backward we traveled to reclaim the day…" description: "\"Backward we traveled to reclaim the day Before we fell, like Icarus, undone; All we find are altars in decay And profane words scrawled black across th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/sylvia-plath-149_altars_backward-we-traveled-to-reclaim-the-day_1521573.jpg" --- # Backward we traveled to reclaim the day Before we fell… ![“Backward we traveled to reclaim the day Before we fell, like Icarus, undone; All we find are altars in decay And profane words scrawled black across the sun.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/sylvia-plath-149_altars_backward-we-traveled-to-reclaim-the-day_1521573.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/sylvia-plath-149_altars_backward-we-traveled-to-reclaim-the-day_1521573.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/sylvia-plath-149_altars_backward-we-traveled-to-reclaim-the-day_1521573.jpg) > “Backward we traveled to reclaim the day Before we fell, like Icarus, undone; All we find are altars in decay And profane words scrawled black across the sun.” [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. The poem reflects on lost ambition, decay, and the lingering impact of past failures. **In simple terms:** Lost dreams lead to ruin and lingering pain. Key Takeaway Learn from past mistakes. Themes loss ambition decay memory Mood melancholic introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - career setbacks - relationship endings - creative blocks Key Concepts existentialism mythology self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What does the “day” symbolize for you? - How can you rebuild after feeling undone? A Different Perspective Hope may be too bleak for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altars/) [Icarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/icarus/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) ## Related quotes > [“Backward we traveled to reclaim the day Before we fell, like Icarus, undone; All we find are altars in decay And profane words scrawled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/backward-we-traveled-to-reclaim-the-day-before-we-fell-like-icarus-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [God warned Israel, "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-anders/god-warned-israel-and-if-thou-wilt-make-me-an-altar-of-stone-thou/) [Max Anders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-anders/) > [But I’ve never seen the Icarus story as a lesson about the limitations of humans. I see it as a lesson about the limitations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-munroe/but-i-ve-never-seen-the-icarus-story-as-a-lesson-about-the/) [Randall Munroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-munroe/) > [“I'm drawn, Icarus to the sun. I've been burned already, and yet here I am again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james/i-m-drawn-icarus-to-the-sun-i-ve-been-burned-already-and-yet-here-i/) [E.L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james/) > [“I had not fooled myself with false hope. I was a goddess, and he a mortal, and both of us were imprisoned. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-had-not-fooled-myself-with-false-hope-i-was-a-goddess-and-he-a/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [“But who names a starship the Icarus? 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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. 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Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [And in any preaching you do, admonish the people concerning repentance, and that nobody can be saved except he who receives the most holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-of-assisi/and-in-any-preaching-you-do-admonish-the-people-concerning-repentance/) [Francis of Assisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-of-assisi/) > [Yes, thou art ever present, power divine; not circumscribed by time, nor fixed by space, confined to altars, nor to temples bound. In wealth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/yes-thou-art-ever-present-power-divine-not-circumscribed-by-time-nor/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The revolting details of childbirth had been hidden from me with such care that I was as surprised as I was horrified, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/the-revolting-details-of-childbirth-had-been-hidden-from-me-with-such/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. 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