A winding footpath through green highlands towards a sunlit lake and distant hills.

Original artwork, not a still

A Tale of Two Cities · 1859

Charles Dickens

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker judges the deed about to be done as far nobler than anything before it, and the rest to be reached as far more peaceful than anything ever known. The doubled 'far, far' lifts both act and repose beyond all past experience, framing an ending as a serene arrival.

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