Reading a poem in translation is like kissing a woman through a veil.
Anne MichaelsRead
There's a moment when love makes you believe in death for the first time. You recognize the one whose loss, even contemplated, you'll carry forever, like a sleeping child. All grief, anyone's grief...is the weight of a sleeping child.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Love intertwines our emotions with the reality of loss, making it profoundly impactful.
This quote reflects the transformative power of love and how it shapes our understanding of loss and grief. When we truly love someone, the thought of losing them becomes haunting, as we realize the depth of our connection and the lasting imprint they leave in our lives. The metaphor of carrying grief like a 'sleeping child' emphasizes how heavy and burdensome this sorrow can feel, yet also highlights the precious memories and love that remain.
Themes
LoveGriefLossEmotionConnection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a memorial service to express the deep connection love creates.
More from Anne Michaels
All quotes →Hold a book in your hand and you're a pilgrim at the gates of a new city.
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When my parents were liberated, four years before I was born, they found that the ordinary world outside the camp had been eradicated. There was no more simple meal, no thing was less than extraordinary: a fork, a mattress, a clean shirt, a book. Not to mention such things that can make one weep: an orange, meat and vegetables, hot water. There was no ordinariness to return to, no refuge from the blinding potency of things, an apple screaming its sweet juice.
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If love wants you; if you've been melted down to stars, you will love with lungs and gills; with feathers and scales; with warm blood and cold.
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Long after you’ve forgotten someone’s voice, you can still remember the sound of their happiness or their sadness. You can feel it in your body.
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Love makes you see a place differently, just as you hold differently an object that belongs to someone you love. If you know one landscape well, you will look at all other landscapes differently. And if you learn to love one place, sometimes you can also learn to love another.
Anne MichaelsRead
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