--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Futility Move him into the sun - Gently…" description: "\"Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/wilfred-owen-4642_break_futility-move-him-into-the-sun-gently-it_3209172.jpg" --- # Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke… ![“Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds, - Woke, once, the clays of a cold…” quote by Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/wilfred-owen-4642_break_futility-move-him-into-the-sun-gently-it_3209172.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/wilfred-owen-4642_break_futility-move-him-into-the-sun-gently-it_3209172.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/wilfred-owen-4642_break_futility-move-him-into-the-sun-gently-it_3209172.jpg) > “Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds, - Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved -still warm -too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? -O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?” [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem reflects on the indifferent, relentless passage of time and nature, juxtaposing the sun’s awakening power with human mortality and futility. **In simple terms:** Nature’s cycles contrast human fragility. Key Takeaway Recognize life’s fleeting nature. Themes mortality nature futility time existence Mood somber reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - war remembrance - personal reflection - grief - philosophical contemplation Key Concepts impermanence cosmic indifference human condition Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning amid inevitable loss? - What comforts you when confronting mortality? A Different Perspective The sun’s warmth cannot reverse death. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clay/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Dear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Fatuous Sunbeams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatuous-sunbeams-2427428/) [Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fields/) [France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/france/) [Futility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futility/) [Futility Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futility-sun-5989202/) [Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Limbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limbs/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Seeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeds/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Sun Gently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-gently-3922774/) [Sunbeams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunbeams/) [Sunbeams Toil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunbeams-toil-2427427/) [Tall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tall/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Toil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toil/) [Warm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warm/) [Whispering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whispering/) ## Related quotes > [Was it for this the clay grew tall? O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall-o-what-made-fatuous-sunbeams-toil/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/o-what-made-fatuous-sunbeams-toil-to-break-earth-s-sleep-at-all/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“move him into the sun- gently its touch awoke him once,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/move-him-into-the-sun-gently-its-touch-awoke-him-once/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Move him into the sun Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/move-him-into-the-sun-gently-its-touch-awoke-him-once-at-home/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“It was when the sun gently slipped off the backside of the horizon and slowly drew the light of the day in it’s train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-was-when-the-sun-gently-slipped-off-the-backside-of-the-horizon/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [See, here's a shadow found; the human nature Is made th' umbrella to the Deity, To catch the sunbeams of thy just Creator; Beneath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/see-here-s-a-shadow-found-the-human-nature-is-made-th-umbrella-to-the/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [The town was glad with morning light; places that had shown ugly and distrustful all night long, now wore a smile; and sparkling sunbeams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-town-was-glad-with-morning-light-places-that-had-shown-ugly-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The gay motes that people the sunbeams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-gay-motes-that-people-the-sunbeams/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less that God wishes -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-believe-that-every-particle-of-dust-that-dances-in-the-sunbeam-does/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [I am present at the sowing of the seed of the world. With a geometry of sunbeams, the soul lays the foundations of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-present-at-the-sowing-of-the-seed-of-the-world-with-a-geometry/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [My love runs by like a day in June, And he makes no friends of sorrows. He'll tread his galloping rigadoon In the pathway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/my-love-runs-by-like-a-day-in-june-and-he-makes-no-friends-of-sorrows/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean, we can't separate ourselves from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/just-like-a-sunbeam-can-t-separate-itself-from-the-sun-and-a-wave-can/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The creditor whose appearance gladdens the heart of a debtor may hold his head in sunbeams and his foot on storms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-creditor-whose-appearance-gladdens-the-heart-of-a-debtor-may-hold/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Marvelous,” she said. “Tell me about this tapestry.” Arachne’s lips curled over her mandibles. “Why do you care? You're about to die.” “Well, yes,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/marvelous-she-said-tell-me-about-this-tapestry-arachne-s-lips-curled/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) ## More by Wilfred Owen > [Was it for this the clay grew tall?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [The war effects me less than it ought. I can do no service to anybody by agitating for news or making dole over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/the-war-effects-me-less-than-it-ought-i-can-do-no-service-to-anybody/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Escape? There is one unwatched way: your eyes. O Beauty! Keep me good that secret gate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/escape-there-is-one-unwatched-way-your-eyes-o-beauty-keep-me-good/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/and-by-his-smile-i-knew-that-sullen-hall-by-his-dead-smile-i-knew-we/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Walking abroad, one is the admiration of all little boys, and meets an approving glance from every eye of elderly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/walking-abroad-one-is-the-admiration-of-all-little-boys-and-meets-an/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Those who, like the beasts, have no such Hope, pass their old age shrouded with an inward gloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/those-who-like-the-beasts-have-no-such-hope-pass-their-old-age/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [The English say, Yours Truly, and mean it. The Italians say, I kiss your feet, and mean, I kick your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/the-english-say-yours-truly-and-mean-it-the-italians-say-i-kiss-your/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/ambition-may-be-defined-as-the-willingness-to-receive-any-number-of/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished. Memory fingers in their hair of murders Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. Wading sloughs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/these-are-men-whose-minds-the-dead-have-ravished-memory-fingers-in/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Was it for this the clay grew tall? O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall-o-what-made-fatuous-sunbeams-toil/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [I was a boy when I first realized that the fullest life liveable was a Poet's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/i-was-a-boy-when-i-first-realized-that-the-fullest-life-liveable-was/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [And some cease feeling Even themselves or for themselves. Dullness best solves The tease and doubt of shelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/and-some-cease-feeling-even-themselves-or-for-themselves-dullness/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/sleep-mothered-them-and-left-the-twilight-sad/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [After all my years of playing soldiers, and then of reading History, I have almost a mania to be in the East, to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/after-all-my-years-of-playing-soldiers-and-then-of-reading-history-i/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [My subject is war, and the pity of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/my-subject-is-war-and-the-pity-of-war/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) [Explore all 108 Wilfred Owen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) ## More Break quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [Things are going well in Germany because the economy is booming and as an export-driven nation, we are profiting from the fact that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/things-are-going-well-in-germany-because-the-economy-is-booming-and/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [There were songs that we cut out after we chose the name, because 'Praise Break' turned out to be an underlying concept that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-caesar/there-were-songs-that-we-cut-out-after-we-chose-the-name-because/) [Daniel Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-caesar/) > [“He didn't break my heart. No one can break your heart except you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/he-didn-t-break-my-heart-no-one-can-break-your-heart-except-you/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“She couldn't break the orbit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/she-couldn-t-break-the-orbit/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) > [Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/your-pain-is-the-breaking-of-the-shell-that-encloses-your/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I hadn't worked for a year when I had my Prison Break audition and it was the easiest audition I've ever had. I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wentworth-miller/i-hadn-t-worked-for-a-year-when-i-had-my-prison-break-audition-and-it/) [Wentworth Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wentworth-miller/) > [If you strike upon a thought that baffles you, break off from that entanglement and try another, so shall your wits be fresh to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/if-you-strike-upon-a-thought-that-baffles-you-break-off-from-that/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [“A hole ain’t nothing either, but you can still break your neck in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-donati/a-hole-ain-t-nothing-either-but-you-can-still-break-your-neck-in-it/) [Sara Donati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-donati/) > [“I break things, a lot of things, but I don’t want one of them to be you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/i-break-things-a-lot-of-things-but-i-don-t-want-one-of-them-to-be-you/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Motor racing's less of a sport these days than a commercial break doing 150 mph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dunne/motor-racing-s-less-of-a-sport-these-days-than-a-commercial-break/) [Peter Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dunne/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-purpose-is-to-be-in-gratitude-forever-live-with-applied/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [Never break another man's rice bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/never-break-another-man-s-rice-bowl/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) [Browse all 8,188 Break quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds, - Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved -still warm -too hard to stir? 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