--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How cold the vacancy When the phantoms…" description: "\"How cold the vacancy When the phantoms are gone and the shaken realist First sees reality. The mortal no Has its emptiness and tragic expirations.\" — W..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/wallace-stevens-846_cold_how-cold-the-vacancy-when-the-phantoms-a_2430117.jpg" --- # How cold the vacancy When the phantoms are gone and the… ![“How cold the vacancy When the phantoms are gone and the shaken realist First sees reality. The mortal no Has its emptiness and tragic expirations.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/wallace-stevens-846_cold_how-cold-the-vacancy-when-the-phantoms-a_2430117.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/wallace-stevens-846_cold_how-cold-the-vacancy-when-the-phantoms-a_2430117.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/wallace-stevens-846_cold_how-cold-the-vacancy-when-the-phantoms-a_2430117.jpg) > “How cold the vacancy When the phantoms are gone and the shaken realist First sees reality. The mortal no Has its emptiness and tragic expirations.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When familiar structures disappear, reality feels empty and tragic, exposing the starkness of existence. **In simple terms:** Loss of familiar frames reveals emptiness. Key Takeaway Seek clarity amid uncertainty. Themes existence emptiness reality Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic literary When to use this quote - grief - career change - creative block - spiritual crisis Key Concepts nihilism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does “shaken realist” suggest? - How do you confront emptiness? A Different Perspective The poem’s abstraction can obscure practical guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Cold Vacancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-vacancy-271132/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-tragic-271133/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Mortal Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortal-emptiness-271131/) [Mortals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortals/) [Negation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negation/) [Phantoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phantoms/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Realist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realist/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Mortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-mortal-271129/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) [Vacancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacancy/) [Vacancy Phantoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacancy-phantoms-271130/) ## Related quotes > [“This…hole in the world, man-shaped. Me-shaped. A vacancy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/this-hole-in-the-world-man-shaped-me-shaped-a-vacancy/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) > [He was a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/he-was-a-solemn-unsmiling-sanctimonious-old-iceberg-who-looked-like/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [History is representational, while time is abstract; both of these artifices may be found in museums, where they span everybody's own vacancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-smithson/history-is-representational-while-time-is-abstract-both-of-these/) [Robert Smithson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-smithson/) > [“The first thing, of course, is to find a vacancy, a place where a teacher is wanted, and the second thing is to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-sanders/the-first-thing-of-course-is-to-find-a-vacancy-a-place-where-a/) [Thomas E. Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-sanders/) > [“The vacancy in your heart doesn't connotes that nobody is seeking for the job of servicing your feelings, but because the employee must first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-vacancy-in-your-heart-doesn-t-connotes-that-nobody-is-seeking-for/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Redd Towers Apartments, whose advertising slogan, 'If you lived here, you'd be home by now,' did little to fill vacancies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-beddor/redd-towers-apartments-whose-advertising-slogan-if-you-lived-here-you/) [Frank Beddor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-beddor/) > [A proud man is one who waits for a vacancy in the Trinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-proud-man-is-one-who-waits-for-a-vacancy-in-the-trinity/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Art as an aesthetic principle was supported by thousands of years of discernment and psychic rewards, but art as a commodity was held up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/art-as-an-aesthetic-principle-was-supported-by-thousands-of-years-of/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The closer you get to Number 10 the more you see what a back-breaking job that is, the pressure is absolutely constant and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lidington/the-closer-you-get-to-number-10-the-more-you-see-what-a-back-breaking/) [David Lidington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lidington/) > [Action is transitory, a step, a blow, The motion of a muscle, this way or that, 'Tis done--And in the after-vacancy, We wonder at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/action-is-transitory-a-step-a-blow-the-motion-of-a-muscle-this-way-or/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [It infuriated him to think that there were still people in the state who believed in a loving and merciful God. There are mystics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/it-infuriated-him-to-think-that-there-were-still-people-in-the-state/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [The infinity of this vacancy, the pervasive pain, the longing for some spirit, some lightness, some joy - that's all that is left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-manning/the-infinity-of-this-vacancy-the-pervasive-pain-the-longing-for-some/) [Martha Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-manning/) > [I felt I had to take the Celtic opportunity. You quickly learn that any managerial vacancy attracts up to 60 or 70 applicants, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barnes/i-felt-i-had-to-take-the-celtic-opportunity-you-quickly-learn-that/) [John Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barnes/) > [“The vacancy left by absence of worship is filled by mere killing of time and by boredom, which is directly related to inability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-pieper/the-vacancy-left-by-absence-of-worship-is-filled-by-mere-killing-of/) [Josef Pieper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-pieper/) > [The mind abhors a vacancy & is wont to people it with phantoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-mind-abhors-a-vacancy-is-wont-to-people-it-with-phantoms/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More Cold quotes > [Once ye made up yer mind to do somethin', 'tis better t'stumble o'er the small hillock of jump-ahead than t'bash yer head on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/once-ye-made-up-yer-mind-to-do-somethin-tis-better-t-stumble-o-er-the/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [Of course Messi could handle a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. He'd be drinking tea and relaxing beforehand. Me? I'd probably be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neymar/of-course-messi-could-handle-a-cold-tuesday-night-in-stoke-he-d-be/) [Neymar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neymar/) > [This cold weather has set all the young Folks to providing Bedfellows. I have signed two or three Licences every Day \[as a Fairfax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/this-cold-weather-has-set-all-the-young-folks-to-providing-bedfellows/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [When my main character in 'Heat' climbs the tower, the highest diving platform, hoping to resume competitive diving after an injury, I am there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cadnum/when-my-main-character-in-heat-climbs-the-tower-the-highest-diving/) [Michael Cadnum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cadnum/) > [You start playing when it's cold and you want to be playing when it's cold again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimy-williams/you-start-playing-when-it-s-cold-and-you-want-to-be-playing-when-it-s/) [Jimy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimy-williams/) > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/what-s-to-become-of-the-morally-sound-left-out-in-the-cold-i-suppose/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [When I first started, all the reviews of Cold Chisel would say, 'This singer won't have a voice in six months.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-barnes/when-i-first-started-all-the-reviews-of-cold-chisel-would-say-this/) [Jimmy Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-barnes/) > [One of the problems trying to play an instrument outside in the cold is your fingers give up on you and you can't wear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-macdonald/one-of-the-problems-trying-to-play-an-instrument-outside-in-the-cold/) [Amy Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-macdonald/) > [God tempers the cold to the shorn sheep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-etienne-sainte-claire-deville/god-tempers-the-cold-to-the-shorn-sheep/) [Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-etienne-sainte-claire-deville/) > [Those nights lying alone are not discontinuous with this cold hectic dawn. It is who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/those-nights-lying-alone-are-not-discontinuous-with-this-cold-hectic/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) [Browse all 5,381 Cold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How cold the vacancy When the phantoms are gone and the shaken realist First sees reality. 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