Autumn Quote by Virginia Woolf
““But what after all is one night? A short space, especially when the darkness dims so soon, and so soon a bird sings, a cock crows, or a faint green quickens, like a turning leaf, in the hollow of the wave. Night, however, succeeds to night. The winter holds a pack of them in store and deals them equally, evenly, with indefatigable fingers. They lengthen; they darken. Some of them hold aloft clear planets, plates of brightness. The autumn trees, ravaged as they are, take on the flash of tattered flags kindling in the gloom of cool cathedral caves where gold letters on marble pages describe death in battle and how bones bleach and burn far away in Indian sands. The autumns trees gleam in the yellow moonlight, in the light of harvest moons, the light which mellows the energy of labour, and smooths the stubble, and brings the wave lapping blue to the shore.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Mrs Dalloway, 1925
The passage reflects on the fleeting, cyclical nature of night and time, using vivid natural imagery to convey continuity and change across seasons.
In simple terms: Night is fleeting yet repeats, marked by natural cycles.
Key Takeaway
Notice how each night connects to larger cycles.
Themes
time
nature
continuity
change
seasonality
Mood
reflective
melancholic
Type
literary
poetic
When to use this quote
- nighttime reflection
- seasonal change
- writing inspiration
Key Concepts
philosophical
literary
poetic
Questions to Reflect On
- How does the imagery affect your sense of time?
- What does the night symbolize for you?
A Different Perspective
The poetic description may obscure concrete meaning for some readers.
