Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
And none will hear the postman’s knock Without a quickening of the heart. For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the deep human fear of being forgotten and the emotional response it elicits.
In this quote, W. H. Auden emphasizes the profound impact of feeling forgotten on a person's psyche. The 'postman’s knock' symbolizes a significant moment of anticipation and longing for connection, where each knock stirs an emotional response tied to our fears and desires for remembrance and recognition by others. It speaks to the fundamental human need for acknowledgment and the anguish of invisibility in the eyes of those we care about.
Themes
ForgottenEmotionsConnectionHumanityRecognition
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of family, one might quote this to highlight the need for emotional connection.
More from W. H. Auden
All quotes →That the speech of self-disclosure should be translatable seems to me very odd, but I am convinced that it is. The conclusion that I draw is that the only quality which all human being without exception possess is uniqueness: any characteristic, on the other hand, which one individual can be recognized as having in common with another, like red hair or the English language, implies the existence of other individual qualities which this classification excludes.
W. H. AudenRead
Nobody knows what the cause is, though some pretend they do; it like some hidden assassin waiting to strike at you. Childless women get it, and men when they retire; it as if there had to be some outlet for their foiled creative fire.
W. H. AudenRead
History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
W. H. AudenRead
Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
W. H. AudenRead
'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
W. H. AudenRead
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