James Russell Lowell

Greatly begin! Though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime--
Not failure, but low read more

Greatly begin! Though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime--
Not failure, but low aim is crime.

The purely Great
Whose soul no siren passion could unsphere,
Thou nameless, now a power and mixed read more

The purely Great
Whose soul no siren passion could unsphere,
Thou nameless, now a power and mixed with fate.

So we're all right, an' I, for one,
Don't think our cause'll lose in vally
By rammin' read more

So we're all right, an' I, for one,
Don't think our cause'll lose in vally
By rammin' Scriptur' in our gun,
An' gittin' Natur' for an ally.

He who esteems the Virginia reel
A bait to draw saints from their spiritual weal,
And regards read more

He who esteems the Virginia reel
A bait to draw saints from their spiritual weal,
And regards the quadrille as a far greater knavery
Than crushing His African children with slavery,
Since all who take part in a waltz or cotillon
Are mounted for hell on the devil's own pillion,
Who, as every true orthodox Christian well knows,
Approaches the heart through the door of the toes.

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character. - Among My Books, 1870.

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character. - Among My Books, 1870.