So far had the pen, under the king, the superiority over the
sword.
[Fr., Tant la plume a read more

So far had the pen, under the king, the superiority over the
sword.
[Fr., Tant la plume a eu sous le roi d'avantage sur l'epee.]

Art thou a pen, whose task shall be
To drown in ink
What writers think?
read more

Art thou a pen, whose task shall be
To drown in ink
What writers think?
Oh, wisely write,
That pages white
Be not the worse for ink and thee.

The feather, whence the pen
Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men,
Dropped from read more

The feather, whence the pen
Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men,
Dropped from an Angel's wing.

Oh! nature's noblest gift--my gray-goose quill!
Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will,
Torn from thy read more

Oh! nature's noblest gift--my gray-goose quill!
Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will,
Torn from thy parent-bird to form a pen,
That might instrument of little men!

For what made that in glory shine so long
But poets' Pens, pluckt from Archangels' wings?

For what made that in glory shine so long
But poets' Pens, pluckt from Archangels' wings?

The swifter hand doth the swift words outrun:
Before the tongue hath spoke the hand hath done.

The swifter hand doth the swift words outrun:
Before the tongue hath spoke the hand hath done.

The pen wherewith thou dost so heavenly sing
Made of a quill from an angel's wing.

The pen wherewith thou dost so heavenly sing
Made of a quill from an angel's wing.

The sacred Dove a quill did lend
From her high-soaring wing.

The sacred Dove a quill did lend
From her high-soaring wing.

You write with ease, to show your breeding,
But easy writing's curst hard reading.

You write with ease, to show your breeding,
But easy writing's curst hard reading.