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.

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.

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.

Men of quality are in the wrong to undervalue, as they often do,
the practise of a fair and read more

Men of quality are in the wrong to undervalue, as they often do,
the practise of a fair and quick hand in writing; for it is no
immaterial accomplishment.
[Lat., Non sest aliena res, quae fere ab honestis negligi solet,
cura bene ac velociter scribendi.]

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?

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.

The pen became a clarion.

The pen became a clarion.

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!

Goose [pen] bee [wax] and calf [parchment] govern the world.
[Lat., Anser, apie, vitellus, populus et regna gubernant.]

Goose [pen] bee [wax] and calf [parchment] govern the world.
[Lat., Anser, apie, vitellus, populus et regna gubernant.]