Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.
John BetjemanRead
Silver and ermine and red faces full of port wine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the opulence and social settings of a certain class, evoking both beauty and indulgence.
John Betjeman's quote, 'Silver and ermine and red faces full of port wine', evokes a vivid image of luxury and indulgence in social gatherings of the affluent. It brings to mind the grandeur of wealth, characterized by expensive materials like silver and ermine, combined with the more relaxed and jovial atmosphere suggested by the 'red faces full of port wine', thus capturing the essence of a celebration or the hedonistic aspects of life among the elite.
Themes
LuxuryIndulgenceWealthSocialCelebrationArt
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about the decadence of the upper class in literature.
More from John Betjeman
All quotes βSimilar quotes
A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world.
Robert SmithsonRead
The basis for poetry and scientific discovery is the ability to comprehend the unlike in the like and the like in the unlike.
Jacob BronowskiRead
Everything I do is personal. I have never made a movie that didn't have very strong personal resonance.
Francis Ford CoppolaRead
The fulfillment I get from a good day of writing is addictive and will always bring me back the next day.
Michael ConnellyRead
I wanted to show the history and strength of all kinds of black women. Working women, country women, urban women, great women in the history of the United States.
Elizabeth CatlettRead
I love the secrecy of writing fiction. When I write a novel, I don't tell anybody what I'm doing. I'm living in my private world. And it's a great sensation.
Umberto EcoRead