--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am terrified by this dark thing that…" description: "\"I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg" --- # I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me. ![“I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg) > “I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.” [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 speaker feels a deep, unsettling inner darkness that feels alive and threatening. **In simple terms:** Inner fear feels like a living, dark presence. Key Takeaway Unconscious dread can dominate self‑perception. Themes psychology existential inner conflict Mood haunting introspective Type personal reflection When to use this quote - nightmares - creative blocks - therapy sessions Key Concepts shadow self anxiety Practical Applications - journaling to externalize fear - mindfulness to observe inner darkness Questions to Reflect On - What does the 'dark thing' represent for you? - How can acknowledging it change its power? A Different Perspective The metaphor may exaggerate normal emotional turbulence, implying pathology where none exists. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Dark Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-thing-727121/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Terrified](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrified/) [Terrified Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrified-dark-285753/) [Thing Sleeps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-sleeps-727120/) ## Related quotes > [I am terrified by this dark thing That sleeps in me; All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-sleeps-in-me-all-day-i-feel/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I am terrified by this dark thing That sleeps in me; All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity. Clouds pass and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-sleeps-in-me-all-day-i-feel-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I am inhabited by a cry. Nightly it flaps out Looking, with its hooks, for something to love I am terrified by this dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-inhabited-by-a-cry-nightly-it-flaps-out-looking-with-its-hooks-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“always find the bright side of a dark thing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avery-spurling/always-find-the-bright-side-of-a-dark-thing/) [Avery Spurling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avery-spurling/) > [“¨In the dark you can't see no THING but no THING can see you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/in-the-dark-you-can-t-see-no-thing-but-no-thing-can-see-you/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [I was terrified of the dark. And not just as a very young child, either. I'm talking all the way up until I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-pereira/i-was-terrified-of-the-dark-and-not-just-as-a-very-young-child-either/) [Alex Pereira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-pereira/) > [“Some men are terrified by the dark nature of the Moon, but not the Devil. The Devil is afraid of nothing he can fuck.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-thompson/some-men-are-terrified-by-the-dark-nature-of-the-moon-but-not-the/) [Tanya Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-thompson/) > [“Al, you're the most wonderful man I've ever been terrified by down a dark alleyway. Will you marry me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-merrow/al-you-re-the-most-wonderful-man-i-ve-ever-been-terrified-by-down-a/) [J.L. Merrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-merrow/) > [If I rest, if I think inward, I go mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/if-i-rest-if-i-think-inward-i-go-mad/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The owl,” he was saying, “is one of the most curious creatures. A bird that stays awake when the rest of the world sleeps.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-j-rose/the-owl-he-was-saying-is-one-of-the-most-curious-creatures-a-bird/) [M.J. Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-j-rose/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [How can I set free anyone who doesn't have the guts to stand up alone and declare his own freedom? I think it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/how-can-i-set-free-anyone-who-doesn-t-have-the-guts-to-stand-up-alone/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [You know, I read the papers and I watch the news a lot. I watch 'Dateline' and '48 Hours'. And I think we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-galecki/you-know-i-read-the-papers-and-i-watch-the-news-a-lot-i-watch/) [Johnny Galecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-galecki/) > [The idea of a bowed and terrified liberal minority during McCarthy's 'reign of terror' is poppycock. Then as now, all elite opinion was against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/the-idea-of-a-bowed-and-terrified-liberal-minority-during-mccarthy-s/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Dark quotes > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“I could see her will leaving and death seeping through her skin to skewer her soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/i-could-see-her-will-leaving-and-death-seeping-through-her-skin-to/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [The soul wanders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes, there we find our soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-zimmerman/the-soul-wanders-in-the-dark-until-it-finds-love-and-so-wherever-our/) [Mary Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-zimmerman/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [All comedy comes from a dark place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katt-williams/all-comedy-comes-from-a-dark-place/) [Katt Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katt-williams/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [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/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Let death bless me with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-death-bless-me-with-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what do you call/that space between the dark geographies of sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethaway/what-do-you-call-that-space-between-the-dark-geographies-of-sex/) [Natasha Trethaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethaway/) > [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/) > [Even in the dark your shadow is like a guide to me! you are my rising sun that brings forth hope just as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkemjika-linus/even-in-the-dark-your-shadow-is-like-a-guide-to-me-you-are-my-rising/) [Nkemjika Linus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkemjika-linus/) [Browse all 10,198 Dark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sylvia Plath" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-sleeps-in-me/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dark" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-sleeps-in-me/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/sylvia-plath-149_dark_i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-s_121295.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.” — Sylvia Plath", "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": "Sylvia Plath", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am terrified by this dark...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-sleeps-in-me/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-terrified-by-this-dark-thing-that-sleeps-in-me/#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 } } ] } ```