30 quotes
Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
To the pure soul by Fancy's fire refined,
Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy,
When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
Wilt thou debase the heart which God refined?
No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire,
To fancy, freedom, harmony, resigned;
Ambition's groveling crew forever left behind.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame’s proud temple shines afar?
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
How sweet the words of truth breathed from the lips of love!
Be ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to woe.
The Minstrel (1771)
How sweet the words of Truth, breath'd from the lips of Love.
The Minstrel (1771)
And none speaks false, when there is none to hear.
The Minstrel (1771)
'Twas thus by the glare of false science betray'd,
That leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind.
The Hermit. Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922)
Rocks, torrents, gulfs, and shapes of giant size
And glitt'ring cliffs on cliffs, and fiery ramparts rise.
What is a law, if those who make it
Become the forwardest to break it?
The Wolf and Shepherds (1776)
Let those deplore their doom,
Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn:
But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb,
Can smile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn.
The Minstrel (1771)
From labour health, from health contentment spring;
Contentment opes the source of every joy.
The Minstrel (1771)
On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending,
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.
And, lo! in the dark east, expanded high,
The rainbow brightens to the setting Sun.
The Minstrel (1771)
When squint-eyed Slander plies the unhallow'd tongue,
From poison'd maw when Treason weaves his line,
And Muse apostate (infamy to song!)
Grovels, low muttering, at Sedition's shrine.
The Judgment of Paris (1765)
He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.
And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe,
O never, never turn away thine ear!
Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below,
Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!
The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805)
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.