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Lethe Quotes

Browse 18 quotes about Lethe.

Lethe Quotes

“Suddenly I'd had Enough and this was no turn of phrase but a warm body, nervous, with a constitution I could count on like a younger brother. That's when I told my mother: on the other side it's really underdeveloped. We're going back. Really, I said: I want to go back, not possible unless Mummy who is part of me comes too. We wait in the empty street at the stop for Lethe, the only bus that runs both ways. My mother is losing patience. The bus doesn't come. It's not easy to wait for a bus you've heard is the only one that runs both ways. I check the guidebook. Neither Canto XIV of the Iliad nor Canto XI of the Odyssey mentions the place. Just what you'd expect for Lethe I tell myself. Naturally forgetfulness attracts attention to itself by means of absence and omission. But for my mother the bus not turning up is the theme of her nightmares. I explain that in this country one comes along every quarter of an hour...To signal to the vehicle that one wishes to board Oblivion Return one must fan open the grille by pressing a button and lighting up the small lantern on the top of the archway, which I did. It's the one gleam of hope in this world.”

Lethe
Author:Hélène Cixous
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“A giant as we hoped, in truth, a dwarf; A barrel of slop that shines on Lethe's wharf', Which at first seemed a vessel with sweet wine For thirsty lips. So down the swift decline You went through sloven spirit, craven heart And cynic indolence. And here the art Of molding clay has caught you for the nonce And made your shame our shame ~ Your head in bronze!”

FirstsHeartArtMadeSpiritAtheismSweetShameWineShiningLipsCaughtGiantsDeclineClayVesselBarrelsThirstyDwarfsIndolenceCynicDwarvesBronzeShine OnMoldingLetheSweet Wine
Author:Edgar Lee Masters
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“I know thou art gone to the home of thy rest-- Then why should my soul be so sad? I know thou art gone where the weary are blest, And the mourner looks up, and is glad; I know thou hast drank of the Lethe that flows In a land where they do not forget, That sheds over memory only repose, And takes from it only regret.”

KnowsShouldLooksArtSoulHomeDeathMemoriesForgetGoneLandRegretFlowGladMy SoulLook UpShedWearyDrankReposeSo SadLethe
Author:Thomas Kibble Hervey
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“Of four infernal rivers that disgorge/ Into the burning Lake their baleful streams;/Abhorred Styx the flood of deadly hate,/Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep;/Cocytus, nam'd of lamentation loud/ Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegethon/ Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage./ Far off from these a slow and silent stream,/ Lethe the River of Oblivion rolls/ Her wat'ry Labyrinth whereof who drinks,/ Forthwith his former state and being forgets,/ Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.”

StatesPainJoyHateBlackForgetPleasureGriefFireFourHeardSorrowDrinkRiversSilentWaveRageFormerBurningLoudStreamsLakesFierceFloodOblivionLabyrinthPain And PleasureLamentationStyxLetheJoy And Grief
Author:John Milton
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