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

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

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 who in time knows whither we may vent the treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores this gain 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 glories shall be sent, 't unknowing Nations with our stores? What worlds in the yet unformed Occident may come refined with the accents that are ours?

He has strangled
His language in his tears.

He has strangled
His language in his tears.

Like a diaphanous nightgown, language both hides and reveals.

Like a diaphanous nightgown, language both hides and reveals.

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them

If language had been the creation not of poetry but of logic, we should only have one.

If language had been the creation not of poetry but of logic, we should only have one.

Language is wine upon the lips.

Language is wine upon the lips.

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.