Words are the life of knowledge; they set free,And bring forth truth by way of midwif'ry:The activ'st creatures of the teeming brain,The judges who the inward man arraign:Reason's chief engine and artilleryTo batter error, and make falsehood fly;The cannons of the mind, who sometimes bounceNothing but war, then peace again pronounce. Attributed Poetical Quotations (1829)
'Tis only man can words create,And cut the air to sounds articulateBy nature's special charter. Nay, speech canMake a shrewd discrepance 'twist man and man:It doth the gentleman from clown discover;And from a fool the grave philosopher;As Solon said to one in judgment weak,I thought thee wise until I heard thee speak. Attributed Poetical Quotations (1829)