--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And voices singing out of empty cisterns…" description: "\"And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.\" — T. S. Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/t-s-eliot-633_emptiness_and-voices-singing-out-of-empty-cisterns_2306216.png" --- # And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted… ![“And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/t-s-eliot-633_emptiness_and-voices-singing-out-of-empty-cisterns_2306216.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/t-s-eliot-633_emptiness_and-voices-singing-out-of-empty-cisterns_2306216.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/t-s-eliot-633_emptiness_and-voices-singing-out-of-empty-cisterns_2306216.png) > “And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.” [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uses metaphor of empty cisterns and wells to evoke voices singing in barren, exhausted spaces. **In simple terms:** Empty wells echo with distant voices. Key Takeaway Seek nourishment beyond emptiness. Themes desolation voice spiritual thirst artistic metaphor renewal Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - urban decay - personal crisis - artistic creation - spiritual searching Key Concepts existential longing creative expression hope amidst decay Questions to Reflect On - What does the empty cistern symbolize for you? - How can you find voice in desolation? A Different Perspective May be interpreted as hopeless. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) ## Related quotes > [And upside down in air were towers Tolling reminiscent bells, thatkept the hours And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ts-eliot/and-upside-down-in-air-were-towers-tolling-reminiscent-bells-thatkept/) [TS Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ts-eliot/) > [“I loved the different voices all singing one song, the various tones and qualities, the passing lifts of feeling, rising up and going out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-loved-the-different-voices-all-singing-one-song-the-various-tones/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I love the sound of voices singing together, congregational singing, anything like gospel, or folk, or sea shanties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/i-love-the-sound-of-voices-singing-together-congregational-singing/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [I love the sound of voices singing together, congregational singing, anything like gospel, or folk, or sea shanties. I spent quite a bit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/i-love-the-sound-of-voices-singing-together-congregational-singing-2/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [Sing again, with your dear voice revealing. A tone Of some world far from ours, where music and moonlight and feeling are one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/sing-again-with-your-dear-voice-revealing-a-tone-of-some-world-far/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The guys in high school were like, "You've got a nice voice; you should keep singing," but I never honestly thought that one day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-legrand/the-guys-in-high-school-were-like-you-ve-got-a-nice-voice-you-should/) [Victoria Legrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-legrand/) > [In a thousand voices singing the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's "Messiah," it is possible to distinguish the leading voices, but the differences of training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/in-a-thousand-voices-singing-the-hallelujah-chorus-in-handel-s/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [The thing I like about singing duets is that I get things out of my voice I never get singing by myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/the-thing-i-like-about-singing-duets-is-that-i-get-things-out-of-my/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [It's one thing having a great song, but I think for me if you take it to the next level... say you had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flume/it-s-one-thing-having-a-great-song-but-i-think-for-me-if-you-take-it/) [Flume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flume/) > [Most people like the sad songs. 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I no longer had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cilla-black/the-first-time-i-went-to-abbey-road-and-put-those-headphones-on-i/) [Cilla Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cilla-black/) > [When we first sold the Wallace and Gromit shorts to America, people suggested we get rid of the strange British accents and put clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-park/when-we-first-sold-the-wallace-and-gromit-shorts-to-america-people/) [Nick Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-park/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) ## More by T. S. Eliot > [The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-nobel-is-a-ticket-to-one-s-own-funeral-no-one-has-ever-done/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Dear Mother, I am getting on nicely in my work at the bank, and like it ... I want to find out something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/dear-mother-i-am-getting-on-nicely-in-my-work-at-the-bank-and-like-it/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, But the faith and the love and the hope are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/for-love-would-be-love-of-the-wrong-thing-there-is-yet-faith-but-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We must always take risks. That is our destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-must-always-take-risks-that-is-our-destiny/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/all-significant-truths-are-private-truths-as-they-become-public-they/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/when-forced-to-work-within-a-strict-framework-the-imagination-is/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/honest-criticism-and-sensitive-appreciation-are-directed-not-upon-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-had-the-experience-but-we-missed-the-meaning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The end is in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-end-is-in-the-beginning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You have learned enough to see that cats are much like you and me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/you-have-learned-enough-to-see-that-cats-are-much-like-you-and-me/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-strange-that-words-are-so-inadequate-yet-like-the-asthmatic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Every end is a beginning...And every beginning is an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/every-end-is-a-beginning-and-every-beginning-is-an-end/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) [Explore all 433 T. S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) aryadeva > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. S. 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