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!

Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword.

Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword.

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.

Whose noble praise
Deserves a quill pluckt from an angel's wing.

Whose noble praise
Deserves a quill pluckt from an angel's wing.

If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest
of men, I will find read more

If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest
of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.
[Fr., Qu'on me donne six lignes ecrites de la main du plus
honnete homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.]

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.

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?