--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I…" description: "\"“I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I couldn't write swelled and swelled like an old-fashioned airship and drifted away at last through the night sky..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d80/tomas-transtromer-20280_night-sky_i-wrote-so-meagerly-to-you-but-what-i-co_1587702.jpg" --- # I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I couldn't write… ![“I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I couldn't write swelled and swelled like an old-fashioned airship and drifted away at last through the night sky.” quote by Tomas Tranströmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d80/tomas-transtromer-20280_night-sky_i-wrote-so-meagerly-to-you-but-what-i-co_1587702.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d80/tomas-transtromer-20280_night-sky_i-wrote-so-meagerly-to-you-but-what-i-co_1587702.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d80/tomas-transtromer-20280_night-sky_i-wrote-so-meagerly-to-you-but-what-i-co_1587702.jpg) > ““I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I couldn't write swelled and swelled like an old-fashioned airship and drifted away at last through the night sky.”” [Tomas Tranströmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet describes words swelling like an airship, drifting away into night, symbolizing thoughts that escape control. **In simple terms:** Words become like an airship drifting away. Key Takeaway Acknowledge thoughts that slip away. Themes creativity language impermanence Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic literary When to use this quote - writing - dreaming - nighttime reflection Key Concepts metaphor expression Questions to Reflect On - What thoughts feel like drifting? - How do you capture fleeting ideas? A Different Perspective The metaphor may over‑romanticize loss of control. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Night sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-sky/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [If you ever feel distant, never mistake who has drifted away. 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If there is a liking for God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/god-has-not-drifted-away-people-have-drifted-away-they-have-a-liking/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [We've drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-harvey/we-ve-drifted-away-from-being-fishers-of-men-to-being-keepers-of-the/) [Paul Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-harvey/) > [“I was reminded of how years before, he had drifted away from one of our afternoon strolls and got surrounded by the tide -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-was-reminded-of-how-years-before-he-had-drifted-away-from-one-of/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Allo!" he shouted as he drifted away."there is no to fear! The Boov have stopped eating you people!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rex/allo-he-shouted-as-he-drifted-away-there-is-no-to-fear-the-boov-have/) [Adam Rex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rex/) > [Throughout your day, when you notice that your thoughts have drifted away, come back to where you are. You'll instantly see why you drifted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/throughout-your-day-when-you-notice-that-your-thoughts-have-drifted/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I have drifted away from thinking about these philanthropic things. And it was only as the wealth got large enough and Melinda and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-have-drifted-away-from-thinking-about-these-philanthropic-things/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [ I was definitely seriously affected \[with wifw and daughter deaths\], no question, but I learnt to devote myself to the things that we'd been… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-hillary/i-was-definitely-seriously-affected-with-wifw-and-daughter-deaths-no/) [Edmund Hillary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-hillary/) > [Spirits sweep through, Embrace Nothing destroys Faith, even when everything else has drifted away. 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Both joy and sorrow swell in the dew's magnifying glass. Without really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/a-ship-s-engine-far-away-on-the-water-expands-the-summer-night/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat but often the shadow seems more real than the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/it-is-still-beautiful-to-hear-the-heart-beat-but-often-the-shadow/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [I am carried in my shadow like a violin in its black case](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/i-am-carried-in-my-shadow-like-a-violin-in-its-black-case/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [“Thank you for this life! Still I miss the alternatives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/thank-you-for-this-life-still-i-miss-the-alternatives/) [Tomas Tranströmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [We always feel younger than we are. I carry inside myself my earlier faces, as a tree contains its rings. The sum of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/we-always-feel-younger-than-we-are-i-carry-inside-myself-my-earlier/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [A person shows himself for an instant as in a photograph but clearer and in the background something which is bigger than his shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/a-person-shows-himself-for-an-instant-as-in-a-photograph-but-clearer/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [I am still the place where creation does some work on itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/i-am-still-the-place-where-creation-does-some-work-on-itself/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [I walk slowly into myself, through a forest of empty suits of armor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/i-walk-slowly-into-myself-through-a-forest-of-empty-suits-of-armor/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [Every abstract picture of the world is as impossible as a blueprint of a storm. Don't be ashamed because you're human: be proud! Inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/every-abstract-picture-of-the-world-is-as-impossible-as-a-blueprint/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [“Jag som älskar att ströva och försvinna i mängden, en bokstav T i den oändliga textmassan.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/jag-som-lskar-att-str-va-och-f-rsvinna-i-m-ngden-en-bokstav-t-i-den-o/) [Tomas Tranströmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [Sometimes my life opened its eyes in the dark. A feeling as if crowds drew through the streets in blindness and anxiety on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/sometimes-my-life-opened-its-eyes-in-the-dark-a-feeling-as-if-crowds/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [In the middle of life, death comes to take your measurements. The visit is forgotten and life goes on. But the suit is being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/in-the-middle-of-life-death-comes-to-take-your-measurements-the-visit/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [“The gentle downward slope gets steeper and imperceptibly becomes an abyss.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/the-gentle-downward-slope-gets-steeper-and-imperceptibly-becomes-an/) [Tomas Tranströmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [“Every person is a half-opened door leading to a room for everyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/every-person-is-a-half-opened-door-leading-to-a-room-for-everyone/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [“Every abstract picture of the world is as impossible as a blueprint of a storm,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/every-abstract-picture-of-the-world-is-as-impossible-as-a-blueprint-2/) [Tomas Tranströmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) [Explore all 24 Tomas Tranströmer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) ## More Night sky quotes > [“I don’t just want you to like me, I want to be one of the most joy-inducing human beings that you’ve ever encountered. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-don-t-just-want-you-to-like-me-i-want-to-be-one-of-the-most-joy/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“I should say that it was only for me that Marxism seemed over. Surely, I would tell G. at least once a week, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katha-pollitt/i-should-say-that-it-was-only-for-me-that-marxism-seemed-over-surely/) [Katha Pollitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katha-pollitt/) > [Summer explodes into Portland. In early June the heat was there but not the color--the green were still pale and tentative, the morning had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/summer-explodes-into-portland-in-early-june-the-heat-was-there-but/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“At the water's edge, barrels of pitch blazed like huge bonfires. Their reflection, crimson as the rising moon, crept to meet us in long,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/at-the-water-s-edge-barrels-of-pitch-blazed-like-huge-bonfires-their/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“There was light in him, one so bright it could illuminate the entire night sky if only it wasn't covered over by the shadow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-willis/there-was-light-in-him-one-so-bright-it-could-illuminate-the-entire/) [M.S. 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Reach out, pierce the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/a-black-star-appears-a-point-of-darkness-in-the-night-sky-s-clarity/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [Smuggling poems out of prison in the soles of mt shoes i'm way past finding salvation in the arms of a woman, I look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raegan-butcher/smuggling-poems-out-of-prison-in-the-soles-of-mt-shoes-i-m-way-past/) [Raegan Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raegan-butcher/) > [Now, almost one hundred years later, it is difficult to fully appreciate how much our picture of the universe has changed in the span…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/now-almost-one-hundred-years-later-it-is-difficult-to-fully/) [Lawrence M. 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