Skip to content

Quotes from The Legend of Jubal — George Eliot

1819–1880 England

← All quotes by George Eliot

13 quotes

He never had a doubt that such gods were;
He looked within, and saw them mirrored there.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

The immortal name of Jubal filled the sky,
While Jubal lonely laid him down to die.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Each day he wrought and better than he planned,
Shape breeding shape beneath his restless hand.
(The soul without still helps the soul within,
And its deft magic ends what we begin.)

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Such patience have the heroes who begin,
Sailing the first toward lands which others win.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

No farther will I travel: once again
My brethren I will see, and that fair plain
Where I and song were born.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Each day saw the birth
Of various forms, which, flung upon the earth,
Seemed harmless toys to cheat the exacting hour,
But were as seeds instinct with hidden power.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

No eye saw him, while with loving pride
Each voice with each in praise of Jubal vied.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

The song shall spread and swell as rivers do,
And I will teach our youth with skill to woo
This living lyre, to know its secret will;
Its fine division of the good and ill.
So shall men call me sire of harmony,
And where great Song is, there my life shall be.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

While the arm is strong to strike and heave,
Let soul and arm give shape that will abide...

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Jubal was not a name to wed with mockery.
Two rushed upon him: two, the most devout
In honor of great Jubal, thrust him out,
And beat him with their flutes.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Lamech's sons were heroes of their race:
Jubal, the eldest, bore upon his face
The look of that calm river-god, the Nile,
Mildly secure in power that needs not guile.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Jubal sat lonely, all around was dim,
Yet his face glowed with light revealed to him

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

'Twas easy following where invention trod
— All eyes can see when light flows out from God.
And thus did Jubal to his race reveal
Music their larger soul, where woe and weal
Filling the resonant chords, the song, the dance,
Moved with a wider-winged utterance.

The Legend of Jubal (1869)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: George Eliot (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.