“To know that light falls and fills, often without our knowing.”

— Theodore Roethke

The Shape of the Fire," ll. 88-92
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)
Context: To stare into the after-light, the glitter left on the lake's surface,
When the sun has fallen behind a wooded island;
To follow the drips sliding from a lifted oar
Held up, while the rower breathes, and the small boat drifts quietly shoreward;
To know that light falls and fills, often without our knowing.

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

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Theodore Roethke 86

American poet 1908–1963

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Variant translation: In the newspapers, lecture halls, and academies, the study of the country's real factors must be carried forward. Simply knowing those factors without blindfolds or circumlocutions is enough — for anyone who deliberately or unknowingly sets aside a part of the truth will ultimately fail because of the truth he was lacking, which expands when neglected and brings down whatever is built without it. Solving the problem after knowing its elements is easier than solving it without knowing them.
Ref: en.wikiquote.org - José Martí / Quotes / Our America (1891)

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