Annie Dillard - I saw to the south a man walking. He was...

I saw to the south a man walking. He was breaking ground in perfect silence. He wore a harness and pulled a plow. His feet trod his figure's blue shadow, and the plow cut a long blue shadow in the field. He turned back as if to check the furrow, or as if he heard a call. Again I saw another man on the plain to the north. This man walked slowly with a spade, and turned the green ground under. Then before me in the near distance I saw the earth itself walking, the earth walking dark and aerated as it always does in every season, peeling the light back: The earth was plowing the men under, and the space, and the plow. No one sees us go under. No one sees generations churn, or civilizations. The green fields grow up forgetting. Ours is a planet sown in beings. Our generations overlap like shingles. We don't fall in rows like hay, but we fall. Once we get here, we spend forever on the globe, most of it tucked under. While we breathe, we open time like a path in the grass. We open time as a boat's stem slits the crest of the present.

Annie Dillard

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Annie Dillard Quotes

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I saw to the south a man walking. He was breaking ground in perfect silence. He wore a harness and pulled a plow. His feet trod his figure's blue shadow, and the plow cut a long blue shadow in the field. He turned back as if to check the furrow, or as if he heard a call. Again I saw another man on the plain to the north. This man walked slowly with a spade, and turned the green ground under. Then before me in the near distance I saw the earth itself walking, the earth walking dark and aerated as it always does in every season, peeling the light back: The earth was plowing the men under, and the space, and the plow. No one sees us go under. No one sees generations churn, or civilizations. The green fields grow up forgetting. Ours is a planet sown in beings. Our generations overlap like shingles. We don't fall in rows like hay, but we fall. Once we get here, we spend forever on the globe, most of it tucked under. While we breathe, we open time like a path in the grass. We open time as a boat's stem slits the crest of the present. Annie Dillard

They Said So®

Keywords

south man walking breaking ground perfect silence wore harness pulled plow feet trod figure' blue shadow cut long field turned back check furrow heard call plain north walked slowly spade green distance earth dark aerated season peeling light plowing men space sees generations churn civilizations fields grow forgetting planet sown beings overlap shingles fall rows hay spend forever globe tucked breathe open time path grass boat' stem slits crest present

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"A quote by Annie Dillard" theysaidso.com, 2024. Apr 26, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/annie-dillard-i-saw-to-the-south-a-man-walking-he-was-breaking-ground-in-perfect

APA Style Citation

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Chicago Style Citation

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