When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do not the stately shadows of the wood, the stillness of the place, and the awful gloom of this doomed cavern then strike you with the presence of a deity? Seneca
About This Quote

This quote by Edgar Allan Poe is about experiencing awe, wonderment, and the supernatural. The quote is also an example of an oxymoron. The phrase “grove peopled with ancient trees” is an oxymoron because it is clearly contradictory. Ancient trees are not peopled by any other trees, nor do they have any other trees in their midst.

And, the quote uses the word “doomed” to describe this place, which is also an oxymoron. Mr. Poe used oxymorons to contrast the viewpoint of people who view God as an all-powerful, all-knowing entity.

People like him instead viewed God as something that is immeasurable or unknowable.

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More Quotes By Seneca
  1. When you enter a place of stillness, you awaken the divinity within you.
  2. A secret for releasing struggles in life is to learn to yield. Yielding does not mean giving in or giving up. It just means moving with the flow of the current, which makes everything easier and more fluid.
  3. Live is like a river in which you merge. When you struggle against the current, you suffer. When you flow with the current in a smooth and fluid experience, life becomes effortless and joyful.
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