--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After supper was over and the toasts had…" description: "\"“After supper was over and the toasts had been drunk, the boy Pablo was called in to play for the company while the gentlemen smoked. . . there was sof..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg" --- # After supper was over and the toasts had been drunk, the… ![“After supper was over and the toasts had been drunk, the boy Pablo was called in to play for the company while the gentlemen smoked. . . there was softness and languor in the wire strings--but there was also a kind of madness; the recklessness, the call of wild countries which all these men had…” quote by Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg) > ““After supper was over and the toasts had been drunk, the boy Pablo was called in to play for the company while the gentlemen smoked. . . there was softness and languor in the wire strings--but there was also a kind of madness; the recklessness, the call of wild countries which all these men had felt or followed in one way or another. Through clouds of cigar smoke, the scout and the soldiers, the Mexican rancheros and the priests, sat silently watching the bent head and crouching shoulders of the banjo player, and his seesawing yellow hand, which sometimes lost all form and became a mere whirl of matter in motion, like a patch of sand-storm.”” [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage captures a moment where music becomes a conduit for wild, untamed emotions amid a refined setting, highlighting the tension between civilization and primal instinct. **In simple terms:** Music reveals hidden wildness in polite gatherings. Key Takeaway Listen for the raw energy beneath calm surfaces. Themes music wildness cultural clash performance memory Mood reflective poetic nostalgic Type literary descriptive narrative When to use this quote - social gatherings - musical performance - cultural observation - historical fiction Key Concepts primal instinct contrast expression Questions to Reflect On - How does music expose hidden desires? - What does the banjo symbolize for the listeners? A Different Perspective The description may romanticize reckless behavior, overlooking its consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“THERE was a curious social situation in Black Hawk. 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There is great pleasure in the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/success-is-less-interesting-than-struggle-there-is-great-pleasure-in/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“I only knew the schoolbooks said he "died in the wilderness, of a broken heart." "More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-only-knew-the-schoolbooks-said-he-died-in-the-wilderness-of-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Have the last word ma'm," he said cheerfully. 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He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/pete-seeger-is-a-modest-unassuming-cheerful-and-kind-natured-man-he-s/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [When we moved back to the US, folk music was all the rage. So I traded in my banjo for a guitar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-storm/when-we-moved-back-to-the-us-folk-music-was-all-the-rage-so-i-traded/) [Michael Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-storm/) > [My family was always playing music; I always enjoyed it. My cousin, who is a little older than me, he started playing music, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vile/my-family-was-always-playing-music-i-always-enjoyed-it-my-cousin-who/) [Kurt Vile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vile/) > [Earl Scruggs had this thing that it wasn't just the technique or even the instrument. It was him. There was this soulful quality that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-scruggs/earl-scruggs-had-this-thing-that-it-wasn-t-just-the-technique-or-even/) [Earl Scruggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-scruggs/) > [Nothing says 'dropping out of society' like learning the banjo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-roth/nothing-says-dropping-out-of-society-like-learning-the-banjo/) Daniel Roth > [“banjo. A plucked, fretted lute where a thin skin diaphragm is stretched over a circular metal frame amplifying the sound of the strings. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-doherty/banjo-a-plucked-fretted-lute-where-a-thin-skin-diaphragm-is-stretched/) Liz Doherty > [When I first heard the minstrel banjo - I played a gourd first - I almost lost my mind. 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Part of it are the roots in Africa, where it's a more primitive instrument.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-fleck/there-are-a-lot-of-chapters-to-the-banjo-s-history-part-of-it-are-the/) [Bela Fleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-fleck/) > [My dad also plays a little banjo and guitar, my mom plays the mandolin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/page-mcconnell/my-dad-also-plays-a-little-banjo-and-guitar-my-mom-plays-the-mandolin/) [Page McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/page-mcconnell/) > [Whenever a big white man picks up a banjo, my cheeks tighten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/whenever-a-big-white-man-picks-up-a-banjo-my-cheeks-tighten/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [“There was talk of the Centaur being moved into the elephant cages to make room for a banjo-picking Minotaur. Surrendering his meager furnishings to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-roff/there-was-talk-of-the-centaur-being-moved-into-the-elephant-cages-to/) [Don Roff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-roff/) Browse all 104 Banjo quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“After supper was over and the toasts had been drunk, the boy Pablo was called in to play for the company while the gentlemen smoked. . . there was softness and languor in the wire strings--but there was also a kind of madness; the recklessness, the call of wild countries which all these men had felt or followed in one way or another. Through clouds of cigar smoke, the scout and the soldiers, the Mexican rancheros and the priests, sat silently watching the bent head and crouching shoulders of the banjo player, and his seesawing yellow hand, which sometimes lost all form and became a mere whirl of matter in motion, like a patch of sand-storm.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Willa Cather" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had-been-drunk-the-boy-pablo-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Banjo" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had-been-drunk-the-boy-pablo-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/willa-cather-634_banjo_after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had_1588148.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After supper was over and the toasts had been drunk, the boy Pablo was called in to play for the company…” — Willa Cather", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Willa Cather", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“After supper was over and the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had-been-drunk-the-boy-pablo-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/after-supper-was-over-and-the-toasts-had-been-drunk-the-boy-pablo-was/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```