Words are loaded pistols.

Words are loaded pistols.

There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very
gesture.

There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very
gesture.

Morals and manners will rise or decline with our attention to
grammar.

Morals and manners will rise or decline with our attention to
grammar.

Writ in the climate of heaven, in the language spoken by angels.

Writ in the climate of heaven, in the language spoken by angels.

Who climbs the grammar-tree, distinctly knows
Where noun, and verb, and participle grows.

Who climbs the grammar-tree, distinctly knows
Where noun, and verb, and participle grows.

Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes; and thanks to words, we have often sunk read more

Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes; and thanks to words, we have often sunk to the level of the demons.

And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tailed words in osity and ation.

And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tailed words in osity and ation.

And who in time knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
read more

And who in time knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best glory shall be sent,
T' enrich unknowing nations with our stores?
What worlds in th' yet unformed Occident
May come refin'd with th' accents that are ours?

Language is memory and metaphor.

Language is memory and metaphor.