"The night is a skin pulled over the head of day that the day may be in torment"

Djuna Barnes's quote "The night is a skin pulled over the head of day that the day may be in torment" evokes a highly metaphorical image that delves into the dualistic nature of night and day. This metaphor recommends a relationship between night and day that is more conflictual than simply cyclical. The description of night as a "skin" indicates protection or concealment, hinting at the night's role as a covering or shroud over the activities and exposure of the day. The imagery of pulling a skin over something suggests an act of requiring a transformation or shift, which can be upsetting or unwanted.

The concept of the day being "in torment" complicates our understanding of this shift. Usually, one may perceive the beginning of night as a time of rest or peace, a natural time out following the stress of daytime. However, Barnes's phrasing challenges this comforting presumption. In her view, the coming of night possibly exposes the vulnerabilities or unsolved stress of the day. The word "torment" implies suffering, unease, or distress, recommending that the day, with its clarity and presence, masks underlying tensions that emerge or become more noticable in the obscurity of night.

This quote can likewise be analyzed in a more comprehensive existential context. Night might signify the subconscious, the unidentified, or the less tangible elements of human presence. Throughout the day, with its light and rationality, we focus on concrete, noticeable truths. However, night brings darkness, where introspection and covert fears emerge, challenging the orderliness of day. Hence, the images of night pulling a skin over the day might represent the inevitable confrontation with much deeper, frequently upsetting truths that we overlook or suppress in daytime.

Through Barnes's evocative metaphor, we are prompted to reconsider our understanding of night and day not simply as consecutive phases but as realms where different facts and experiences live, each impacting the other in profound methods.