But for pain words are lacking. There should be cries, cracks, fissures, whiteness passing over chintz covers, interference with the sense of time, of space; the sense also of extreme fixity in passing objects; and sounds very remote and then very close; flesh being gashed and blood spurting, a joint suddenly twisted - beneath all of which appears something very important, yet remote, to be just held in solitude. Virginia Woolf
About This Quote

W. H. Auden was a poet renowned for his talents for writing for the stage. In this quote from his poem, "September 1, 1939," he illustrates the feeling of being trapped in a scene of violence and horror. Auden uses alliteration to draw on his subject matter, making it more vivid and riveting.

Source: The Waves

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More Quotes By Virginia Woolf
  1. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
  2. Love, the poet said, is woman's whole existence.
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