. . . I would stand, If the night blackened with a coming storm, Beneath some rock, listening to notes that are The ghostly language of the ancient earth, Or make their dim abode in distant winds. Thence did I drink the visionary power; And deem not profitless those fleeting moods Of shadowy exultation: not for this, That they are kindred to our purer mind And intellectual life; but that the soul, Remembering how she felt, but what she felt Remembering not, retains an obscure sense Of possible sublimity. . . . |
"To every Form of being is assigned," Thus calmly spoke the venerable Sage, "An active Principle." |
[A] mind forever Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone. |
[Poetry] contains a natural delineation of human passions, human characters, and human incidents. |
A brotherhood of venerable trees. |
A Creature not too bright or good, For human nature's daily food; For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears and smiles |
A day it was when I could bear To think, and think, and think again; With so much happiness to spare, I could not feel a pain. |
A deep distress hath humanized my Soul. |
A few strong instincts, and a few plain rules. |
A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by, One after one; the sound of rain, and bees Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky; I have thought of all by turns, and yet do lie Sleepless! |
A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays And confident tomorrows |
A man of hope and forward-looking mind/ Even to the last! |
A multitude of causes unknown to former times are now acting with a combined force to blunt the discriminating powers of the mind, and unfitting it for all voluntary exertion to reduce it to a state of almost savage torpor. |
A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command; And yet a Spirit still, and bright With something of angelic light. |
A poet who has not produced a good poem before he is twenty-five, we may conclude cannot, and never will do so. |