--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love is a shadow. How you lie and cry…" description: "\"“Love is a shadow. How you lie and cry after it --from \"Elm\", written 19 April 1962”\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ff/sylvia-plath-149_love_love-is-a-shadow-how-you-lie-and-cry-aft_2695362.jpg" --- # Love is a shadow. How you lie and cry after it --from… ![“Love is a shadow. How you lie and cry after it --from "Elm", written 19 April 1962” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ff/sylvia-plath-149_love_love-is-a-shadow-how-you-lie-and-cry-aft_2695362.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ff/sylvia-plath-149_love_love-is-a-shadow-how-you-lie-and-cry-aft_2695362.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ff/sylvia-plath-149_love_love-is-a-shadow-how-you-lie-and-cry-aft_2695362.jpg) > ““Love is a shadow. How you lie and cry after it --from "Elm", written 19 April 1962”” [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. Love can be haunting, casting shadows of sorrow and longing. **In simple terms:** Love is a lingering shadow. Key Takeaway Acknowledge love’s complexities. Themes love shadow emotion loss reflection Mood melancholic poetic introspective Type poetry emotional When to use this quote - personal relationships - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts psychology poetry existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What shadows does love cast in your life? - How can you find light within love’s darkness? A Different Perspective Romanticizing pain can hinder healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elm Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elm-written-1010256/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-shadow-1355122/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Shadow Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow-lie-1355123/) ## Related quotes > [“Is it the sea you hear in me? Its dissatisfactions? Or the voice of nothing, that was your madness? Love is a shadow. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/is-it-the-sea-you-hear-in-me-its-dissatisfactions-or-the-voice-of-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Love is a shadow. How you lie and cry after it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/love-is-a-shadow-how-you-lie-and-cry-after-it/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Is it the sea you hear in me? Its dissatisfactions? Or the voice of nothing, that was your madness? Love is a shadow. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/is-it-the-sea-you-hear-in-me-its-dissatisfactions-or-the-voice-of-3/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I know the bottom, she says. I know it with my great tap root: It is what you fear. I do not fear it:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-know-the-bottom-she-says-i-know-it-with-my-great-tap-root-it-is-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have suffered the atrocity of sunsets. --from "Elm", written 19 April 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-suffered-the-atrocity-of-sunsets-from-elm-written-19-april-1962/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Is it the sea you hear in me, Its dissatisfactions? Or the voice of nothing, that was you madness? --from "Elm", written 19 April 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/is-it-the-sea-you-hear-in-me-its-dissatisfactions-or-the-voice-of/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Life without love is a shadow of things that might be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/life-without-love-is-a-shadow-of-things-that-might-be/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I love 'Shadow' the most! The melody is awesome, and I really like how the lyrics express genuine emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dahyun/i-love-shadow-the-most-the-melody-is-awesome-and-i-really-like-how/) [Dahyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dahyun/) > [My sweet angel no matter what I will always love you and I always be your shadow knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-sweet-angel-no-matter-what-i-will-always-love-you-and-i-always-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Lines By A Lover: I Love My Shadow A Lot.. Bcoz, At Least It Was With Me When I Was Left Lonely, By The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/lines-by-a-lover-i-love-my-shadow-a-lot-bcoz-at-least-it-was-with-me/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“Close your eyes and see me, I say, tugging and shredding at your heart as I grin. 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Synge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-synge/) > [As a band gets more successful, there's a danger of falling in love with your own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-dessner/as-a-band-gets-more-successful-there-s-a-danger-of-falling-in-love/) [Bryce Dessner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-dessner/) > [“Sometimes you grow to love the shadow that follows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/sometimes-you-grow-to-love-the-shadow-that-follows/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) ## 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. 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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 Love quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Life is full of change. 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