We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.
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The great Creator to revereMust sure become the creature;But still the preaching cant forbear,And ev'n the rigid feature:Yet ne'er with read more
The great Creator to revereMust sure become the creature;But still the preaching cant forbear,And ev'n the rigid feature:Yet ne'er with wits profane to rangeBe complaisance extended;An atheist laugh's a poor exchangeFor deity offended. - Epistle to a Young Friend, An.
You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the read more
You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming! Here, you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty groups, with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries... - Melting Pot, The.
Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national read more
Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national literature cannot rise above the moral level of the social conditions of the people from whom it derives its inspiration.
As I was going up the stairI met a man who wasn't thereHe wasn't there again todayI wish, I wish read more
As I was going up the stairI met a man who wasn't thereHe wasn't there again todayI wish, I wish he'd stay away. - The Psychoed.
In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.
In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.
The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but read more
The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.
If you look at history you'll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power read more
If you look at history you'll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.
The dancing pair that simply sought renown,By holding out to tire each other down;The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While read more
The dancing pair that simply sought renown,By holding out to tire each other down;The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While secret laughter titter'd round the place;The bashful virgin's side-long looks of love,The matrons glance that would those looks reprove:These were thy charms, sweet village; sports like these,With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please;These were thy bowers their cheerful influence shed,These were thy charms -- but all these charms are fled. - Deserted Village, The.
The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.
The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.
