“The very serpents bite their tails; the bees forget to sting,
For a language so celestial setteth up a wondering.”

"The Symbols"
The Janitor's Boy And Other Poems (1924)
Context: p>The very serpents bite their tails; the bees forget to sting,
For a language so celestial setteth up a wondering.And the touch of absent mindedness is more than any line,
Since direction counts for nothing when the gods set up a sign.</p

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 "The very serpents bite their tails; the bees forget to sting, For a language so celestial setteth up a wondering." by Nathalia Crane?
Nathalia Crane photo
Nathalia Crane 37
American writer 1913–1998

Related quotes

Thomas Fuller (writer) photo

“959. Bees that have Honey in their Mouths, have Stings in their Tails.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

George Herbert photo

“208. The honey is sweet, but the bee stings.”

George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest

Jacula Prudentum (1651)

Pietro Metastasio photo

“The bee and the serpent often sip from the selfsame flower.”

Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782) Italian poet and librettist (born 3 January 1698, died 12 April 1782)

L'ape e la serpe spesso
Suggon l'istesso umore;
Part I.
Morte d' Abele (1732)

Kurt Vonnegut photo

“What is time? It is a serpent which eats its tail”

Breakfast of Champions (1973)
Context: I was on par with the Creator of the Universe there in the dark in the cocktail lounge. I shrunk the Universe to a ball exactly one light-year in diameter. I had it explode. I had it disperse itself again.
Ask me a question, any question. How old is the Universe? It is one half-second old, but the half-second has lasted one quintillion years so far. Who created it? Nobody created it. It has always been here.
What is time? It is a serpent which eats its tail, like this:
This is the snake which uncoiled itself long enough to offer Eve the apple, which looked like this:
What was the apple which Eve and Adam ate? It was the Creator of the Universe.
And so on.
Symbols can be so beautiful, sometimes.

Shannon Hale photo

“No small thing, a bee's sting
When it enters the heart
Not so benign, the growing vine
When it tears stone apart”

Shannon Hale (1974) American fantasy novelist

Source: Palace of Stone

Laurie Halse Anderson photo
Mark Twain photo
Billy Graham (wrestler) photo

“I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. There's nobody as beautiful or as powerful as me!”

Billy Graham (wrestler) (1943–2023) American professional wrestler, american football player, bodybuilder

Billy Graham, Tangled Ropes: Superstar Billy Graham (2006)

Related topics