“Strangers have crossed the sound, but not the sound of the dark oarsmen
Or the golden-haired sons of kings,
Strangers whose thought is not formed to the cadence of waves,
Rhythm of the sickle, oar and milking pail”

— Kathleen Raine

Poem The Ancient Speech

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Strangers have crossed the sound, but not the sound of the dark oarsmen Or the golden-haired sons of kings, Strangers…" by Kathleen Raine?

Kathleen Raine 5

poet, critic, translator 1908–2003

John Hollander (1929–2013) American poet

“I don't mean sound as decoration or elaboration, but the actual cadence that moves tge thing along.”

Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer

'Stepping Stones' interviews with Seamus Heaney' by Dennis O'Driscoll Faber and Faber 2009
Other Quotes

“Music is pleasing not only because of the sound but because of the silence that is in it: without the alternation of sound and silence there would be no rhythm.”

Thomas Merton book No Man Is an Island

Source: No Man Is an Island

“He hated the thought of the past; there was nothing that called out his love and fellowship toward the strangers he had come amongst; and the future was all dark.”

George Eliot (1819–1880) English novelist, journalist and translator

Source: Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1861), Chapter 2 (at page 17)

“Look, stranger, on this island now
The leaping light for your delight discovers,
Stand stable here
And silent be,
That through the channels of the ear
May wander like a river
The swaying sound of the sea.”

W. H. Auden (1907–1973) Anglo-American poet

Look, Stranger, on This Island Now (1936), first published in book form in Look, Stranger! (1936; US title On this Island)

“They lower pails from heaven's walls to catch the milk-maids mirth.”

Nathalia Crane (1913–1998) American writer

"Prescience" 
The Janitor's Boy And Other Poems (1924)
Context: p>A precious place is Paradise and none may know its worth,
But Eden ever longeth for the knicknacks of the earth.The angels grow quite wistful over worldly things below;
They hear the hurdy-gurdies in the Candle Makers Row.They listen for the laughter from the antics of the earth;
They lower pails from heaven's walls to catch the milk-maids mirth.</p