“I study the lives on a leaf: the little
Sleepers, numb nudgers in cold dimensions.”

—  Theodore Roethke

"The Minimal," ll. 1-2
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

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 study the lives on a leaf: the little Sleepers, numb nudgers in cold dimensions." by Theodore Roethke?
Theodore Roethke photo
Theodore Roethke86
American poet 1908–1963

Related quotes

Paul Celan photo

“A little stallion gallops across the leafing fingers-
Black the gate leaps open, I sing;
How did we live here?”

Paul Celan (1920–1970) Romanian poet and translator

"Tallow Lamp" in: Paul Celan (1972) Selected poems. p. 22

Sherman Alexie photo

“I learned how to stop crying.
I learned how to hide inside of myself.
I learned how to be somebody else.
I learned how to be cold and numb.”

Sherman Alexie book Flight

Source: Flight

Borís Pasternak photo

“Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.”

Borís Pasternak (1890–1960) Russian writer

LIFE magazine (13 June 1960)

James Frey photo

“Sleep is still difficult I sleep for three or four hours a day. Usually sometime in the afternoon. I walk in the cold, keep myself numb. I cry less, and less." (James Frey, pg.88)”

James Frey My Friend Leonard

Source: My Friend Leonard

Lorrie Moore photo

“Your numbness is something perhaps you cannot help. It is what the world has done to you. But your coldness. That is what you do to the world.”

Lorrie Moore (1957) American writer

Source: Self-Help

Bret Easton Ellis photo

“And though the coldness I have always felt leaves me, the numbness doesn't and probably never will. this relationship will probably lead to nothing… this didn't change anything. I imagine her smelling clean, like tea…”

Bret Easton Ellis book American Psycho

Source: American Psycho

Janet Fitch photo

“Kindness was the last thing she needed. She had to stay in the icy place, the numb place, and their warmth threatened to melt her just when she needed the cold.”

Janet Fitch (1955) American writer

Source: Paint it Black

George William Russell photo

“Their dream had left me numb and cold,
But yet my spirit rose in pride,
Refashioning in burnished gold
The images of those who died,
Or were shut in the penal cell.”

George William Russell (1867–1935) Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, and artistic painter

To the Memory of Some I knew Who are Dead and Who Loved Ireland (1917)
Context: Their dream had left me numb and cold,
But yet my spirit rose in pride,
Refashioning in burnished gold
The images of those who died,
Or were shut in the penal cell.
Here's to you, Pearse, your dream not mine,
But yet the thought, for this you fell,
Has turned life's water into wine.

David Shuster photo

“As for UFO's … I do believe there is a dimension that we don't understand. Not sure about little green martians, though.”

David Shuster (1967) American television journalist

http://twitter.com/DavidShuster [citation needed] <br class="br">On Twitter

Brad Paisley photo

“When she's layin' on my shoulder on the sofa in the dark
And about the time she falls asleep, so does my right arm.
And I want so bad to move it, 'cause it's tinglin' and it's numb;
But she looks so much like an angel that I don't wanna wake her up.
Yeah I live for little moments
When she steals my heart again and doesn't even know it.
Yeah I live for little moments like that.”

Brad Paisley (1972) American country music singer

Little Moments
Song lyrics, Mud on the Tires (2003)

Related topics