--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Clear, unscaleable ahead, Rise the…" description: "\"Clear, unscaleable ahead, Rise the mountains of instead From whose cold, cascading streams None may drink except in dreams\" — W. H. Auden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/160/w-h-auden-856_clear_clear-unscaleable-ahead-rise-the-mountai_259303.png" --- # Clear, unscaleable ahead, Rise the mountains of instead… ![“Clear, unscaleable ahead, Rise the mountains of instead From whose cold, cascading streams None may drink except in dreams” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/160/w-h-auden-856_clear_clear-unscaleable-ahead-rise-the-mountai_259303.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/160/w-h-auden-856_clear_clear-unscaleable-ahead-rise-the-mountai_259303.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/160/w-h-auden-856_clear_clear-unscaleable-ahead-rise-the-mountai_259303.png) > “Clear, unscaleable ahead, Rise the mountains of instead From whose cold, cascading streams None may drink except in dreams” [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The verse juxtaposes impossible aspirations with harsh reality, suggesting that lofty goals often remain unattainable and only exist in imagination. **In simple terms:** Dreams set impossible goals that reality can't meet. Key Takeaway Accept limits, seek realistic paths. Themes aspiration reality illusion nature humanity Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal ambition - environmental planning - creative writing - goal setting Key Concepts existentialism contrasting imagery symbolism Questions to Reflect On - Do you chase dreams that are impossible? - How can you balance vision with feasibility? A Different Perspective Idealism can ignore practical constraints, leading to frustration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) [Clear Unscaleable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear-unscaleable-2559987/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Drink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drink/) [Drink Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drink-dreams-2161593/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Mountains Instead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountains-instead-2559986/) [Rise Mountains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rise-mountains-1996795/) [Streams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streams/) [Unscaleable Ahead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unscaleable-ahead-2559985/) ## Related quotes > [Faith actually moves no mountains, but instead raises them up where there were none before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/faith-actually-moves-no-mountains-but-instead-raises-them-up-where/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Rise again. You have mountains to scale.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gift-gugu-mona/rise-again-you-have-mountains-to-scale/) [Gift Gugu Mona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gift-gugu-mona/) > [Oh, sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise. By mountains pil'd on mountains to the skies? Heav'n still with laughter the vain toil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/oh-sons-of-earth-attempt-ye-still-to-rise-by-mountains-pil-d-on/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Let us fill a cup and drink to that most noble, ridiculous, laughable, sublime figure in our lives... The Young Man Who Was. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-wouk/let-us-fill-a-cup-and-drink-to-that-most-noble-ridiculous-laughable/) [Herman Wouk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-wouk/) > [If you could drink dreams like the Irish streams Then the world would be high as the mountain of morn In the Pool they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/if-you-could-drink-dreams-like-the-irish-streams-then-the-world-would/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“Everybody offers to buy one a drink; but nobody ever dreams of buying one a sandwich.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-satie/everybody-offers-to-buy-one-a-drink-but-nobody-ever-dreams-of-buying/) [Erik Satie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-satie/) > [We are all pilgrims on an elusive and endless road... Despite our attempts to build lives on stone foundations, our spirits continuously flow. 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It will remain when the body dies;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/the-foundation-of-the-christian-s-peace-is-everlasting-it-is-what-no/) [Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/) > [The tides which flow and lapse in the Bristol Channel are often distained by the freshets of many streams falling through wooded coombes below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-tides-which-flow-and-lapse-in-the-bristol-channel-are-often/) [Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by W. H. Auden > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Why doesn't the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/why-doesn-t-the-united-states-take-over-the-monarchy-and-unite-with/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/harrow-the-house-of-the-dead-look-shining-at-new-styles-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/men-will-pay-large-sums-to-whores-for-telling-them-they-are-not-bores/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-to-whom-evil-is-done-do-evil-in-return/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-and-the-public-know-what-all-schoolchildren-learn-those-to-whom/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/how-happy-the-lot-of-the-mathematician-he-is-judged-solely-by-his/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/perhaps-there-is-only-one-cardinal-sin-impatience-because-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-windiest-militant-trash-important-persons-shout-is-not-so-crude/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/time-and-fevers-burn-away-individual-beauty-from-thoughtful-children/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-hunt-for-symbols-in-a-fairy-tale-is-absolutely-fatal/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) [Explore all 344 W. H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## More Clear quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [When I came to Chelsea, it was clear that, like many other players, I would first be loaned out. So I went to Belgium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorgan-hazard/when-i-came-to-chelsea-it-was-clear-that-like-many-other-players-i/) [Thorgan Hazard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorgan-hazard/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I try to listen to all music with an open head, a clear head, try not to say just because I don't know it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ghostface-killah/i-try-to-listen-to-all-music-with-an-open-head-a-clear-head-try-not/) [Ghostface Killah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ghostface-killah/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. 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But it's - I'm very clear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/i-can-t-imagine-that-i-would-be-asked-that-by-the-president-elect/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) [Browse all 7,410 Clear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Clear, unscaleable ahead, Rise the mountains of instead From whose cold, cascading streams None may drink except in dreams", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. H. 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