Phantom Hand

Famous quotes containing the words phantom hand, phantom and/or hand:

    Semi-Saracenic architecture, sustaining itself as if by miracle in mid air; glittering in the red sunlight with a hundred oriels, minarets, and pinnacles; and seeming the phantom handiwork, conjointly, of the Sylphs,... the Fairies,... the Genii, and ... the Gnomes.
    Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)

    It was a favor for which to be forever silent to be shown this vision. The earth beneath had become such a flitting thing of lights and shadows as the clouds had been before. It was not merely veiled to me, but it had passed away like the phantom of a shadow, skias onar, and this new platform was gained. As I had climbed above storm and cloud, so by successive days’ journeys I might reach the region of eternal day, beyond the tapering shadow of the earth.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    I think I could . . .
    if I’d been different, or wise, or calm,
    I think I could have charmed the table,
    the stained dish or the hand of the dealer.
    But it’s done.
    It’s all used up.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)