--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I measure myself Against a tall tree I…" description: "\"I measure myself Against a tall tree I find that I am much taller, For I reach right up to the sun With my eye; And I reach to the shore of the sea Wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/wallace-stevens-846_ants_i-measure-myself-against-a-tall-tree-i-f_715066.jpg" --- # I measure myself Against a tall tree I find that I am much… ![“I measure myself Against a tall tree I find that I am much taller, For I reach right up to the sun With my eye; And I reach to the shore of the sea With my ear. Nevertheless, I dislike The way the ants crawl In and out of my shadow.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/wallace-stevens-846_ants_i-measure-myself-against-a-tall-tree-i-f_715066.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/wallace-stevens-846_ants_i-measure-myself-against-a-tall-tree-i-f_715066.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/wallace-stevens-846_ants_i-measure-myself-against-a-tall-tree-i-f_715066.jpg) > “I measure myself Against a tall tree I find that I am much taller, For I reach right up to the sun With my eye; And I reach to the shore of the sea With my ear. Nevertheless, I dislike The way the ants crawl In and out of my shadow.” [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. The poet compares human senses to natural elements, expressing awe yet discomfort with small, intrusive details. **In simple terms:** Human senses reach far, but small nuisances annoy. Key Takeaway Balance appreciation of grandeur with tolerance for minor irritations. Themes nature perception discomfort Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - mindfulness practice - environmental observation Key Concepts Sensory metaphor existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - What small details distract you from appreciating larger wonders? - How can you transform irritation into curiosity? A Different Perspective May overemphasize trivial annoyances, missing larger beauty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) [Dislike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dislike/) [Ears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ears/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Measure Tall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measure-tall-5631103/) [Nevertheless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nevertheless/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Shore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shore/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Tall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tall/) [Tall trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tall-trees/) [Taller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taller/) [Taller Reach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taller-reach-5631104/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Tree Taller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree-taller-5631105/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [“I'm sorry for him who cannot hear what the tall trees have to say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-guest/i-m-sorry-for-him-who-cannot-hear-what-the-tall-trees-have-to-say/) [Edgar Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-guest/) > [By raising tall trees for windbreaks, citrus underneath, and a green manure cover down on the surface, I have found a way to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masanobu-fukuoka/by-raising-tall-trees-for-windbreaks-citrus-underneath-and-a-green/) [Masanobu Fukuoka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masanobu-fukuoka/) > [“Then there was a fine noise of rushing water from the crown of an oak at his back, as if a spigot there had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/then-there-was-a-fine-noise-of-rushing-water-from-the-crown-of-an-oak/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“Home is where the heart is. That's what they always say. But where does home begin,If you have lost your way. Do you turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peace-gypsy/home-is-where-the-heart-is-that-s-what-they-always-say-but-where-does/) [Peace Gypsy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peace-gypsy/) > [All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, Evolution made them all. Each little flower that opens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/all-things-bright-and-beautiful-all-creatures-great-and-small-all-2/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [I am a strong believer that as one moves toward the future, the strongest and clearest way to do it is if you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-pelli/i-am-a-strong-believer-that-as-one-moves-toward-the-future-the/) [Cesar Pelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-pelli/) > [“Rainer Maria Rilke greeted and wrestled with the angels of his Duino Elegies in the solitude of a castle surrounded by white cliffs tall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/rainer-maria-rilke-greeted-and-wrestled-with-the-angels-of-his-duino/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [“The sunlight, penetrating the gaps in the tall trees, plays chess on the gravestones, shifting slowly and thoughtfully across the worn old stones. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/the-sunlight-penetrating-the-gaps-in-the-tall-trees-plays-chess-on/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [“She stood at the edge of a glassy river lined with impossibly tall trees, fanning out their wide emerald leaves among the puffy white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-messenger/she-stood-at-the-edge-of-a-glassy-river-lined-with-impossibly-tall/) [Shannon Messenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-messenger/) > [“When he held a candle across the threshold, the black swallowed the fire completely. When he tried to step across it, he felt nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-a-mckillip/when-he-held-a-candle-across-the-threshold-the-black-swallowed-the/) [Patricia A. McKillip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-a-mckillip/) > [...the more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves. If you never let them take any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/the-more-risks-you-allow-children-to-take-the-better-they-learn-to/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“The grassy park was lined with dozens of kissing booths. Twinkle lights draped back-and-forth between tall trees, making a canopy of stars above the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-fine/the-grassy-park-was-lined-with-dozens-of-kissing-booths-twinkle/) [Chelsea Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-fine/) > [For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/for-a-tree-to-become-tall-it-must-grow-tough-roots-among-the-rocks/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It turned out that when Miss Level had asked Tiffany if she was scared of heights, it had been the wrong question. Tiffany was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-turned-out-that-when-miss-level-had-asked-tiffany-if-she-was/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## 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 Ants quotes > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [Great God of the Ants, thou hast granted victory to thy servants. I appoint thee honorary Colonel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/great-god-of-the-ants-thou-hast-granted-victory-to-thy-servants-i/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [People are like ants: Just a few of them give all the orders. And most of them spend their lives getting squashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-are-like-ants-just-a-few-of-them-give-all-the-orders-and-most/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There's a good case to be made that having fun is a key evolutionary advantage right next to opposable thumbs in terms of importance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raph-koster/there-s-a-good-case-to-be-made-that-having-fun-is-a-key-evolutionary/) [Raph Koster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raph-koster/) > [“THE FIGHTERS ARE TINY. INSECTS, REALLY. BUT ANTS CAN SLAY AN ELEPHANT, IF THERE ARE ENOUGH OF THEM. ESPECIALLY ANTS ARMED WITH HIGH-YIELD EXPLOSIVES…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amie-kaufman/the-fighters-are-tiny-insects-really-but-ants-can-slay-an-elephant-if/) [Amie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amie-kaufman/) > [We know of no behavior in ants or any other social insects that can be construed as play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-holldobler/we-know-of-no-behavior-in-ants-or-any-other-social-insects-that-can/) [Bert Holldobler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-holldobler/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Albert and I would spend hours and hours looking at them. Cleo had this big magnifying glass on his desk, and we'd find centipedes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/albert-and-i-would-spend-hours-and-hours-looking-at-them-cleo-had/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [When someone criticizes or disagrees with you, a small ant of hatred and antagonism is born in your heart. If you do not squash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-someone-criticizes-or-disagrees-with-you-a-small-ant-of-hatred/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Lies are like ants; there's never just one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ash/lies-are-like-ants-there-s-never-just-one/) [Julia Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-ash/) > [There's a scientific hypothesis that every person's name is a primary suggestive command that contains the entire script of their life in highly concentrated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-pelevin/there-s-a-scientific-hypothesis-that-every-person-s-name-is-a-primary/) [Victor Pelevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-pelevin/) > [When I was little, I would burn ants with a magnifying glass. But now that I'm older, I'm more of a cat guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/when-i-was-little-i-would-burn-ants-with-a-magnifying-glass-but-now/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [If ants were the size of humans, they would be able to run twice as fast as a Lamborghini.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-ants-were-the-size-of-humans-they-would-be-able-to-run-twice-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 499 Ants quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I measure myself Against a tall tree I find that I am much taller, For I reach right up to the sun With my eye; And I reach to the shore of the sea With my ear. 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