--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The leaves hop, scraping on the ground…" description: "\"The leaves hop, scraping on the ground. It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice. It is in this solitude, a syllable, O..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/wallace-stevens-846_emptiness_the-leaves-hop-scraping-on-the-ground-it_2148737.jpg" --- # The leaves hop, scraping on the ground. It is deep… ![“The leaves hop, scraping on the ground. It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice. It is in this solitude, a syllable, Out of these gawky flitterings, Intones its single emptiness, The savagest hollow of winter-sound.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/wallace-stevens-846_emptiness_the-leaves-hop-scraping-on-the-ground-it_2148737.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/wallace-stevens-846_emptiness_the-leaves-hop-scraping-on-the-ground-it_2148737.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/wallace-stevens-846_emptiness_the-leaves-hop-scraping-on-the-ground-it_2148737.jpg) > “The leaves hop, scraping on the ground. It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice. It is in this solitude, a syllable, Out of these gawky flitterings, Intones its single emptiness, The savagest hollow of winter-sound.” [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. Winter’s stark silence isolates the observer, turning ordinary sounds into a profound, empty echo. **In simple terms:** Winter silence makes ordinary sounds feel empty. Key Takeaway Listen for deeper meaning in quiet moments. Themes nature solitude perception Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - lonely walks - meditation - writing retreats Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - What does silence reveal to you? - How can you find comfort in solitude? A Different Perspective Focusing on emptiness can lead to melancholy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Scraping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scraping/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Stalking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stalking/) [Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter/) ## Related quotes > [It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-deep-january-the-sky-is-hard-the-stalks-are-firmly-rooted-in-ice/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [In the ice of solitude man becomes most inexorably a question to himself, and just because the question pitilessly summons and draws into play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/in-the-ice-of-solitude-man-becomes-most-inexorably-a-question-to/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [“The sun glowed behind the monotonous, gray January sky, a tease of light through the heavy hazy. Noah gazed out the window. He hated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-simon-gunn/the-sun-glowed-behind-the-monotonous-gray-january-sky-a-tease-of/) [Jacqueline Simon Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-simon-gunn/) > [I thought how utterly we have forsaken the Earth, in the sense of excluding it from our thoughts. There are but few who consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-thought-how-utterly-we-have-forsaken-the-earth-in-the-sense-of/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Fear of success is one of the new fears I've heard about lately. And I think its definitely a sign that we're running out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/fear-of-success-is-one-of-the-new-fears-i-ve-heard-about-lately-and-i/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) > [We strain to hear. But instead of hearing an answer we catch sight of God himself scraped and torn. Through our tears we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wolterstorff/we-strain-to-hear-but-instead-of-hearing-an-answer-we-catch-sight-of/) [Nicholas Wolterstorff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wolterstorff/) > [Of myself I must say this, I never was any greedy, scraping grasper, nor a strait fast-holding prince, nor yet a master; my heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/of-myself-i-must-say-this-i-never-was-any-greedy-scraping-grasper-nor/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [ The intelligent and efficient politician is a species virtually unknown in the galaxy. Perhaps I might secure a scraping \[for my\] cell library. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/the-intelligent-and-efficient-politician-is-a-species-virtually/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [Who cares what a man's style is, so it is intelligible,--as intelligible as his thought. Literally and really, the style is no more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/who-cares-what-a-man-s-style-is-so-it-is-intelligible-as-intelligible/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I was happy, I wasnt beaten, and I lacked nothing. But it wasnt what people expect - it was very much sort of pinching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-scott-thomas/i-was-happy-i-wasnt-beaten-and-i-lacked-nothing-but-it-wasnt-what/) [Kristin Scott Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-scott-thomas/) > [I wanted to do a set of love songs for Valentine's Day so I went through my old material. I found myself scraping around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rush/i-wanted-to-do-a-set-of-love-songs-for-valentine-s-day-so-i-went/) [Tom Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rush/) > [Percussion music is revolution. Sound and rhythm have too long been submissive to the restrictions of nineteenth century music. Today we are fighting for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/percussion-music-is-revolution-sound-and-rhythm-have-too-long-been/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [It is a bad thing to perform menial duties even for the sake of freedom; to fight with pinpricks, instead of with clubs. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/it-is-a-bad-thing-to-perform-menial-duties-even-for-the-sake-of/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The more you walk with God, the harder it is to scrape your knee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-k-r-i-t/the-more-you-walk-with-god-the-harder-it-is-to-scrape-your-knee/) [Big K.R.I.T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-k-r-i-t/) > [When people complain of the decay of manners they have in mind not the impudent abbreviations of the crowd, but the decline in bowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/when-people-complain-of-the-decay-of-manners-they-have-in-mind-not/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) ## 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 Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) aryadeva > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. 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Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The leaves hop, scraping on the ground. It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice. 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