The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
James JoyceRead
He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the profound emotional connection to beautiful yet melancholic words, akin to music.
In this quote, James Joyce expresses the deep emotional impact of language that evokes sadness and beauty. The act of wanting to cry for these words suggests an appreciation for their artistic quality, where the emotional resonance is felt not for personal reasons but for the inherent beauty and sadness they convey, similar to the stirring effect of music on the soul.
Themes
EmotionArtLanguageBeautySadness
In practice
Example use cases
In a poetry reading, quoting this can emphasize the emotional depth of the poems being recited.
More from James Joyce
All quotes βI think a child should be allowed to take his father's or mother's name at will on coming of age. Paternity is a legal fiction.
James JoyceRead
If he had smiled why would he have smiled? To reflect that each one who enters imagines himself to be the first to enter whereas he is always the last term of a preceding series even if the first term of a succeeding one, each imagining himself to be first, last, only and alone whereas he is neither first nor last nor only nor alone in a series originating in and repeated to infinity.
James JoyceRead
Gentle lady, do not sing Sad songs about the end of love; Lay aside sadness and sing How love that passes is enough. Sing about the long deep sleep Of lovers that are dead, and how In the grave all love shall sleep: Love is aweary now.
James JoyceRead
I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.
James JoyceRead
The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.
James JoyceRead
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