Tomas Tranströmer Quotes

8 Sourced Quotes

We always feel younger than we are. I carry inside myself my earlier faces, as a tree contains its rings. The sum of them is me. The mirror sees only my latest face, while I know all my previous ones.

Tomas Tranströmer
In the middle of life, death comes to take your measurements. The visit is forgotten and life goes on. But the suit is being sewn on the sly.

Tomas Tranströmer
I was, however, more interested in steam engines than in electric ones. In other words, I was more romantic than technical.

Tomas Tranströmer
Above ground,
in tropical flood, earth's greenery
stands with lifted arms, as if listening
to the beat of invisible pistons.

Tomas Tranströmer
My total experience of school was mixed, with more darkness than light. Just as my image of society has become.

Tomas Tranströmer
As when you were a child and some tremendous hurt
Was pulled over your head like a sack-
Glints of sunshine through the mesh
And the hum of the cherry trees. But it doesn't help, the great hurt
Covers head and torso and knees
And though you are able to move sometimes
Spring brings no happiness. Yes, shimmering wool cap, pull it down over your face
Stare through the mesh.
Out on the bay, the rings of water multiply soundlessly
Green leaves darken the earth.

Tomas Tranströmer
It is still beautiful to feel your heart throbbing. But often the shadow feels more real than the body.

Tomas Tranströmer
The scientific method I was closest to was the Linnaean: discover, collect, examine.

Tomas Tranströmer