“Three times I rushed toward her, desperate to hold her,
three times she fluttered through my fingers, sifting away
like a shadow, dissolving like a dream.”

— Homér, The Odyssey (Cowper)

XI. 206–208 (tr. Robert Fagles); Odysseus attempting to embrace his mother's spirit in the Underworld.
Compare Virgil, Aeneid, II. 792–793 (tr. C. Pitt):
: Thrice round her neck my eager arms I threw;
Thrice from my empty arms the phantom flew.
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 14, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Three times I rushed toward her, desperate to hold her, three times she fluttered through my fingers, sifting away li…" by Homér?

Homér217

Ancient Greek epic poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Related quotes

“Three times I strove to cling about her Neck,
Thrice her in vain my circling Arms entwin'd
She like a swift Dream flyes, or nimble Wind.”

John Ogilby (1600–1676) Scottish academic

The Works of Publius Virgilius Maro (2nd ed. 1654), Virgil's Æneis

“It was a meditation on life, love, old age, death: ideas that had often fluttered around her head like nocturnal birds but dissolved into a trickle of feathers when she tried to catch hold of them.”

Gabriel García Márquez book Love in the Time of Cholera

Source: Love in the Time of Cholera

“The way her fingers flutter through the space around her. Each a thing he hopes never to forget.”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

“Hinged to forgetfulness like a door,
she slowly closed out of sight,
and she was the woman I loved,
but too many times she slept like
a mechanical deer in my caresses,
and I ached in the metal silence
of her dreams.”

Richard Brautigan (1935–1984) American novelist, poet, and short story writer

Source: Rommel Drives on Deep Into Egypt

“I would remain nearer you for what time there is."

"Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted.

Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.”

Holly Black (1971) American children's fiction writer

Source: Valiant

“Like Machiavelli would say, little Jovana was five months old, and I was prepared to write even "I saw Feldmarshall Göring three times", just to slip away from the barracks for two days and see my little girl and her beautiful mother.”

Đorđe Balašević (1953) Serbian songwriter

Balašević on songs "Računajte na nas" and "Triput sam video Tita" ("Dodir svile", page 85).

“She was my dream. She made me who I am, and holding her in my arms was more natural to me than my own heartbeat. I think about her all the time. Even now, when I'm sitting here, I think about her. There could never have been another.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Notebook

Source: The Notebook

“Tracy, the leader of the CDH group, looks at me with eyes that seem to belong to someone three times her age. It's something beyond wisdom, all the way to insanity and back. It's like her eyes are scarred from all the things she's seen.”

Augusten Burroughs book Dry

Source: Dry

“Okay. I've got a good one." Simon stroked Isabelle's hair feeling her lashes flutter against his neck as she closed her eyes. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”

Cassandra Clare The City of Lost Souls

Source: City of Lost Souls

“Mr Lipwig, there's a lady in the hall to see you and we've thanked her for not smoking three times and she's still doing it!”

Terry Pratchett book Making Money

Source: Making Money

Related topics