--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Old age is a flight of small cheeping…" description: "\"Old age is a flight of small cheeping birds skimming bare trees above a snow glaze. Gaining and failing they are buffeted by a dark wind - But what? On..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8f/william-carlos-williams-1841_age_old-age-is-a-flight-of-small-cheeping-bi_2558308.png" --- # Old age is a flight of small cheeping birds skimming bare… ![“Old age is a flight of small cheeping birds skimming bare trees above a snow glaze. Gaining and failing they are buffeted by a dark wind - But what? On harsh weedstalks the flock has rested - the snow is covered with broken seed husks and the wind tempered with a shrill piping of plenty.” quote by William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8f/william-carlos-williams-1841_age_old-age-is-a-flight-of-small-cheeping-bi_2558308.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8f/william-carlos-williams-1841_age_old-age-is-a-flight-of-small-cheeping-bi_2558308.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8f/william-carlos-williams-1841_age_old-age-is-a-flight-of-small-cheeping-bi_2558308.png) > “Old age is a flight of small cheeping birds skimming bare trees above a snow glaze. Gaining and failing they are buffeted by a dark wind - But what? On harsh weedstalks the flock has rested - the snow is covered with broken seed husks and the wind tempered with a shrill piping of plenty.” [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Old age resembles fragile birds battling harsh winds, yet seeking nourishment. **In simple terms:** Old age is fragile and resilient. Key Takeaway Find strength amid aging challenges. Themes aging fragility resilience Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - elder care - personal reflection - artistic inspiration Key Concepts literature metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What does the wind symbolize for you? - How do you nurture yourself in later life? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overlook individual variability in aging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Bare trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bare-trees-14917/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) [Birds Skimming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds-skimming-1582436/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Cheeping Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheeping-birds-1582437/) [Covered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covered/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Failing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failing/) [Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flight/) [Flocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flocks/) [Harsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harsh/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Plenty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plenty/) [Seeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeds/) [Skimming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skimming/) [Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) [Trees Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees-snow-1440200/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) ## Related quotes > [Old age is a flight of small cheeping birds skimming bare trees above a snow glaze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/old-age-is-a-flight-of-small-cheeping-birds-skimming-bare-trees-above/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“The stars are reliable, unlike any other thing in this crazy world. 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Snow lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-aiken/it-was-dusk-winter-dusk-snow-lay-white-and-shining-over-the-pleated/) [Joan Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-aiken/) > [ “\[...\] a sigh fit for the pillow, the sinking firelight, and a bedroom window open to the stars and the whisper of bare trees.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/a-sigh-fit-for-the-pillow-the-sinking-firelight-and-a-bedroom-window/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“He smoked a pipe, and Laroche, who indulged in neither tobacco nor spirits, simply sat upright in his chair and looked toward the quince…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-brown/he-smoked-a-pipe-and-laroche-who-indulged-in-neither-tobacco-nor/) [Eli Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-brown/) > [“Because they did not burn the land with the same skill and frequency as its previous occupants, the forests grew thicker. Left untended, maize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-c-mann/because-they-did-not-burn-the-land-with-the-same-skill-and-frequency/) [Charles C. Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-c-mann/) > [“On the hill behind her crows flew one by one into the bare trees, arranging their dark blots in the scrim of branches and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/on-the-hill-behind-her-crows-flew-one-by-one-into-the-bare-trees/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [What happiness this is: to fly, skimming over the earth just as we do in our dreams! Life has become a dream. Can this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/what-happiness-this-is-to-fly-skimming-over-the-earth-just-as-we-do/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Suppose that insect wings developed primarily as thermoregulators and then were used for skimming and finally flying, evolving along the way. 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In pill form?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/you-re-a-romanticist-what-do-you-think-a-man-is-a-papaya-to-digest/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Imagination though it cannot wipe out the sting of remorse can instruct the mind in its proper uses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/imagination-though-it-cannot-wipe-out-the-sting-of-remorse-can/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“Fools have big wombs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/fools-have-big-wombs/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“It's just a moment, we die every night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/it-s-just-a-moment-we-die-every-night/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A new music is a new mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-new-music-is-a-new-mind/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A new world is only a new mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-new-world-is-only-a-new-mind/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A poem is this:/A nuance of sound/delicately operating/upon a cataract of sense/...the particulars/of a song waking/upon a bed of sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-poem-is-this-a-nuance-of-sound-delicately-operating-upon-a-cataract/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Prose may carry a load of ill-defined matters like a ship. 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He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Old age is a flight of small cheeping birds skimming bare trees above a snow glaze. Gaining and failing they are buffeted by a dark wind - But what? 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