--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was that period in the vernal quarter…" description: "\"It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be waking for the season. The vegetable world begins to move and swell and t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg" --- # It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may… ![“It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be waking for the season. The vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps to rise, till in the completest silence of lone gardens and trackless plantations, where everything seems helpless and still after the bond…” quote by Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg) > “It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be waking for the season. The vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps to rise, till in the completest silence of lone gardens and trackless plantations, where everything seems helpless and still after the bond and slavery of frost, there are bustlings, strainings, united thrusts, and pulls-all-together, in comparison with which the powerful tugs of cranes and pulleys in a noisy city are but pigmy efforts.” [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage celebrates spring’s awakening, contrasting nature’s subtle, collective resurgence with the noisy, mechanical labor of cities. **In simple terms:** Nature’s quiet rebirth outshines human industry. Key Takeaway Appreciate the gentle power of natural cycles. Themes nature renewal contrast Mood hopeful contemplative Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - gardening - urban planning - environmental activism Key Concepts ecology seasonal change Questions to Reflect On - How does seasonal change affect human emotions? - What can cities learn from natural rhythms? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [April](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/april/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Pulleys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pulleys/) [Seasons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seasons/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Springtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/springtime/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The wonder is not that the world is so easily governed, but that so small a number of persons will suffice for the purpose.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gilmore-simms/the-wonder-is-not-that-the-world-is-so-easily-governed-but-that-so/) [William Gilmore Simms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gilmore-simms/) > [I have thought of a pulley to raise me gradually; but that would give me pain, as it would counteract my natural inclination. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-have-thought-of-a-pulley-to-raise-me-gradually-but-that-would-give/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Stories set the inner life into motion, and this is particularly important where the inner life is frightened, wedged, or cornered. Story greases the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/stories-set-the-inner-life-into-motion-and-this-is-particularly/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estés](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [I'll look as if I'm dead, and that won't be true.' I said nothing. 'You understand. It's too far. I can't take this body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/i-ll-look-as-if-i-m-dead-and-that-won-t-be-true-i-said-nothing-you/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-want-to-be-famous-in-the-way-a-pulley-is-famous-or-a-buttonhole-not/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [In India, crossbreeding programs aimed at mimicking the milk yields of Western cows like the Jerseys and the Holsteins actually breed out the capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/in-india-crossbreeding-programs-aimed-at-mimicking-the-milk-yields-of/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) > [When we relate to our bodies as having soul, we attend to their beauty, their poetry and their expressiveness. Our very habit of treating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-moore/when-we-relate-to-our-bodies-as-having-soul-we-attend-to-their-beauty/) [Thomas Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-moore/) > [“…With pulleys and ropes and time to plan one could move anything. Now that she thought of it, why couldn’t anyone do anything he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/with-pulleys-and-ropes-and-time-to-plan-one-could-move-anything-now/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [And the kittykats would have to erect scaffolding and a pulley to get him down. Mind you, I wouldn't put that past them. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-rennison/and-the-kittykats-would-have-to-erect-scaffolding-and-a-pulley-to-get/) [Louise Rennison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-rennison/) > [Nicholas Temelcoff is famous on the bridge, a daredevil. He is given all the difficult jobs and he takes them. He descends into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/nicholas-temelcoff-is-famous-on-the-bridge-a-daredevil-he-is-given/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Companies leverage two basic pulleys of human behavior to increase the likelihood of an action occuring: the ease of performing an action and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/companies-leverage-two-basic-pulleys-of-human-behavior-to-increase/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [Anyone who knew Violet well could tell she was thinking hard, because her long hair was tied up in a ribbon to keep it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anyone-who-knew-violet-well-could-tell-she-was-thinking-hard-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-bull/coincidence-is-the-word-we-use-when-we-can-t-see-the-levers-and/) [Emma Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-bull/) > [The height of the pulleys from the ground was twelve yards, and consequently, when the weights had descended through that distance, they had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-prescott-joule/the-height-of-the-pulleys-from-the-ground-was-twelve-yards-and/) [James Prescott Joule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-prescott-joule/) > [The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate, when racism is bigger than that. Racism is a complex system of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-woods/the-problem-is-that-white-people-see-racism-as-conscious-hate-when-2/) [Scott Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-woods/) ## More by Thomas Hardy > [“He grew away from old associations, and saw something new in life and humanity. Secondarily, he made close acquaintance with phenomena which he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/he-grew-away-from-old-associations-and-saw-something-new-in-life-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“She was in a sound sleep, Jude, dying of anxiety lest she should have caught a chill which might permanently injure her, was glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/she-was-in-a-sound-sleep-jude-dying-of-anxiety-lest-she-should-have/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [You ride well, but you don't kiss nicely at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/you-ride-well-but-you-don-t-kiss-nicely-at-all/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [You could sometimes see her twelfth year in her cheeks, or her ninth sparkling from her eyes; and even her fifth would flit over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/you-could-sometimes-see-her-twelfth-year-in-her-cheeks-or-her-ninth/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“It was mid-May time, bringing with it weather not, perhaps, quite so blooming as that assumed to be natural to the month by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/it-was-mid-may-time-bringing-with-it-weather-not-perhaps-quite-so/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/if-galileo-had-said-in-verse-that-the-world-moved-the-inquisition/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Some folk want their luck buttered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/some-folk-want-their-luck-buttered/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/measurement-of-life-should-be-proportioned-rather-to-the-intensity-of/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“I was court-martialed in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/i-was-court-martialed-in-my-absence-and-sentenced-to-death-in-my/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“It being the first time in his life that he had touched female fingers under water, Dick duly registered the sensation as rather a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/it-being-the-first-time-in-his-life-that-he-had-touched-female/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“As soon as she could discern the outline of the house, it had all its old effect upon Tess's imagination. Part of her body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/as-soon-as-she-could-discern-the-outline-of-the-house-it-had-all-its/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [ The perfect woman, you see \[is\] a working-woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who \[uses\] her hands and her head… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-perfect-woman-you-see-is-a-working-woman-not-an-idler-not-a-fine/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“The Sinister Spirit sneered: 'It had to be!' And again the Spirit of Pity whispered, 'Why?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-sinister-spirit-sneered-it-had-to-be-and-again-the-spirit-of-pity/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/justice-was-done-and-the-president-of-the-immortals-in-aeschylean/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Explore all 561 Thomas Hardy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## More April quotes > [“I had a chat with May and I had a sweet talk with April but the lovely conversation that left me to ponder was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/i-had-a-chat-with-may-and-i-had-a-sweet-talk-with-april-but-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [It might interest you that just as the U.S. was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam, LBJ launched an illegal invasion of the Dominican…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-might-interest-you-that-just-as-the-u-s-was-ramping-up-its/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Two things you need to know about taxes. They've extended the deadline to April 18, and when you write your check, just make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/two-things-you-need-to-know-about-taxes-they-ve-extended-the-deadline/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [Why should I deem myself to be a chisel, when I could be the artist?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/why-should-i-deem-myself-to-be-a-chisel-when-i-could-be-the-artist/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/the-air-soft-as-that-of-seville-in-april-and-so-fragrant-that-it-was/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [Our opponents see an America in which every day is April 15, tax day. Well, we see an America in which every day is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/our-opponents-see-an-america-in-which-every-day-is-april-15-tax-day/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [It felt like 10 years, but I was actually in treatment for three-and-a-half years. I finally finished in April. Two years ago, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/it-felt-like-10-years-but-i-was-actually-in-treatment-for-three-and-a/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [At 1.24 am on 26 April 1986 Chernobyl’s Unit 4 reactor exploded after staff disabled safety systems and performed an ill-advised experiment to check…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/at-1-24-am-on-26-april-1986-chernobyl-s-unit-4-reactor-exploded-after/) [Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/) > [People born in April are very loving and caring people. They are the ones who have the best memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-born-in-april-are-very-loving-and-caring-people-they-are-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ah, March! we know thou art Kind-hearted, spite of ugly looks and threats, And, out of sight, art nursing April's violets!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hunt-jackson/ah-march-we-know-thou-art-kind-hearted-spite-of-ugly-looks-and/) [Helen Hunt Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hunt-jackson/) > [I know April, May and June are a few unbearable months, and working out in a gym and sweating in such dirty hot, sticky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashish-sharma/i-know-april-may-and-june-are-a-few-unbearable-months-and-working-out/) [Ashish Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashish-sharma/) > [Men are April when they woo, December when they wed...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/men-are-april-when-they-woo-december-when-they-wed/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Browse all 567 April quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/april/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be waking for the season. The vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps to rise, till in the completest silence of lone gardens and trackless plantations, where everything seems helpless and still after the bond and slavery of frost, there are bustlings, strainings, united thrusts, and pulls-all-together, in comparison with which the powerful tugs of cranes and pulleys in a noisy city are but pigmy efforts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Hardy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter-when-we-may-suppose-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "April" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter-when-we-may-suppose-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffe/thomas-hardy-410_april_it-was-that-period-in-the-vernal-quarter_479017.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be waking for the season. 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