The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
James JoyceRead
The voices blend and fuse in clouded silence: silence that is infinite of space: and swiftly, silently the sound is wafted over regions of cycles of cycles of generations that have lived.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the timeless nature of human experience and memory, suggesting a deep interconnectedness across generations.
In this quote, James Joyce poetically conveys the idea that voices and experiences of past generations are intertwined within an infinite silence. This 'clouded silence' suggests a depth of history and a continuum of life that transcends the present moment, emphasizing that our understanding and existence are shaped by those who came before us. It evokes a sense of reflection on the cyclical nature of life and the enduring impact of shared experiences across time.
Themes
MemorySilenceGenerationsExperienceHistory
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the importance of history in shaping society.
More from James Joyce
All quotes →I 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.
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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.
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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.
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I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.
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The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.
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