"All through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep I could hear the steady roar of the passing army"
About this Quote
The subtext is more complicated than simple awe. A river can be sublime, even beautiful, but it also erodes and floods. By choosing a natural metaphor, Davis sidesteps overt moral judgment while still communicating scale and inevitability. Armies, like rivers, have momentum; individuals become gravel in the current. The canyon cliffs suggest constraint and channeling - a reminder that this “passing” mass is directed by geography, logistics, and command, not just ideology. It’s modern war as machinery disguised as destiny.
Context matters because Davis was a celebrity correspondent in the age when journalism helped sell the spectacle of conflict to a mass audience. This line balances romance and dread: it gives readers the sensory rush they expect, then sneaks in the real takeaway - that war’s most honest sound is not the bugle but the unending, impersonal roar.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Davis, Richard Harding. (n.d.). All through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep I could hear the steady roar of the passing army. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/all-through-the-night-like-the-tumult-of-a-river-115583/
Chicago Style
Davis, Richard Harding. "All through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep I could hear the steady roar of the passing army." FixQuotes. Accessed February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/all-through-the-night-like-the-tumult-of-a-river-115583/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"All through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep I could hear the steady roar of the passing army." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/all-through-the-night-like-the-tumult-of-a-river-115583/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
