Ovid's a rake, as half his verses show him,
Anacreon's morals are a still worse sample,
Catullus scarcely has a decent poem,
I don't think Sappho's Ode a good example,
Although Longinus tells us there is no hymn
Where the sublime soars forth on wings more ample;
But Virgil's songs are pure, except that horrid one
Being with "Formosum Pastor Corydon."
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Greece, sound, thy Homer's, Rome thy Virgil's name,
But England's Milton equals both in fame.
Greece, sound, thy Homer's, Rome thy Virgil's name,
But England's Milton equals both in fame.
There is a pleasure in poetic pains,
Which only poets know.
There is a pleasure in poetic pains,
Which only poets know.
The poet and the politician have this in common: their greatness depends on the courage with which they face the read more
The poet and the politician have this in common: their greatness depends on the courage with which they face the challenges of life
Poets by Death are conquer'd but the wit
Of poets triumphs over it.
Poets by Death are conquer'd but the wit
Of poets triumphs over it.
A poet not in love is out at sea;
He must have a lay-figure.
A poet not in love is out at sea;
He must have a lay-figure.
"There's nothing great
Nor small," has said a poet of our day,
Whose voice will ring beyond read more
"There's nothing great
Nor small," has said a poet of our day,
Whose voice will ring beyond the curfew of eve
And not be thrown out by the matin's bell.
The Helicon of too many poets is not a hill crowned with sunshine and visited by the Muses and the read more
The Helicon of too many poets is not a hill crowned with sunshine and visited by the Muses and the Graces, but an old, mouldering house, full of gloom and haunted by ghosts.
Poets are all who love,--who feel great truths,
And tell them.
Poets are all who love,--who feel great truths,
And tell them.
I am what libraries and librarians have made me, with little assistance from a professor of Greek and poets.
I am what libraries and librarians have made me, with little assistance from a professor of Greek and poets.
