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Quotes from In Classic Shades, and Other Poems — Joaquin Miller

1837–1913 United States

← All quotes by Joaquin Miller

9 quotes

The soul that feeds on books alone —
I count that soul exceeding small
That lives alone by book and creed,—
A soul that has not learned to read.

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Here white sea-born clouds companion
With such peaks as know the stars!

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Yet are steeps and stone-strown passes
Smooth o'er head, and nearest God.

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Aye, I built in woe. God willed it;
Woe that passeth ghosts of guilt.

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Shall man not set his standard high,
And hold some higher, holier plan?
Some loftier plan than ever planned
By outworn book of outworn land?

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Then the song! Ah, then the sabre
Flashing up the walls of night!
Hate of wrong and love of neighbor
Rhymes of battle for the Right!

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Come listen, O Love, to the voice of the dove,
Come, hearken and hear him say,
THERE ARE MANY TO-MORROWS, MY LOVE, MY LOVE, —
THERE IS ONLY ONE TO-DAY.

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Man's books are but a climbing stair,
Lain step by step, like stairs of stone;
The stairway here, the temple there —
Man's lampad honor, and his trust,
The God who called him from the dust.

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

We plant this stone as some small seed
Is sown at springtime, warm with earth;
We sow this seed as some good deed
Is sown, to grow until its worth
Shall grow, through rugged steeps of time,
To touch the God-built stars sublime.

In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (1890)

Attribution

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