“I'm pressed into the inside of a mask
At the back of love, the back of air, the back of light.”

—  Stephen Spender

"The Mask"
The Still Centre (1939)
Context: The seen and seeing softly mutually strike
Their glass barrier that arrests the sight.
But the world's being hides in the volcanoes
And the foul history pressed into its core;
And to myself my being is my childhood
And passion and entrails and the roots of senses;
I'm pressed into the inside of a mask
At the back of love, the back of air, the back of light.

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 "I'm pressed into the inside of a mask At the back of love, the back of air, the back of light." by Stephen Spender?
Stephen Spender photo
Stephen Spender 76
English poet and man of letters 1909–1995

Related quotes

Libba Bray photo

“No, I call. Come back.
I'm here, he says.
But I can't see. It's too bright.
You can't hold back the light, Gemma. I'm here. Trust me.”

Libba Bray book The Sweet Far Thing

Source: The Sweet Far Thing

The Notorious B.I.G. photo

“I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali.”

The Notorious B.I.G. (1972–1997) American rapper

Song lyrics, Life After Death (1997), "Going Back to Cali"

Bruce Parry photo

“They loved that I put a bone through my nose. They loved that I had my penis pushed back inside me.”

Bruce Parry (1969) British documentarian

As quoted in "Do you really want to be in our tribe?" in The Telegraph (1 March 2005)

“Love is the way back into Eden. It is the way back to life.”

Francine Rivers (1947) American writer

Source: Redeeming Love

Eminem photo

“Wack job in the back with a black stocking cap/Jacking off to a hockey mask in a boxing match”

Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor

"Underground".
2000s, Relapse (2009)

Courtney Love photo

“Slutkiss girls, won't you promise her smack?
Is she pretty on the inside?
Is she pretty from the back?
Slutkiss girls, won't you water her rack?
Is she pretty on the inside?
Is she pretty from the back?
Slutkiss girl, molasses, rot blackstrap
Is she rotten on the inside
Is she ugly, ugly from the back?”

Courtney Love (1964) American punk singer-songwriter, musician, actress, and artist

"Pretty on the Inside"
Song lyrics, Pretty on the Inside (1991)

Francis Turner Palgrave photo

“They bring back light on their faces;
But they cannot bring back to me
What the lilies say to the roses,
Or the songs of the butterflies be.”

Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897) English poet and critic

Eutopia

Sylvia Plath photo

“I love him to hell and back and heaven and back, and have and do and will.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer
Michael Jordan photo

“I'm back for the second time.”

Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman

Announcing his return to the Bulls (1995-03-18), Classic NBA Quotes: Michael Jordan, 2006-11-22, NBA Encyclopedia, NBA Media Ventures http://www.nba.com/history/Classic_NBA_Quotes_Jordan.html,

Related topics