8 quotes
Be sure, from nature never to depart;
To copy nature is the task of art.
The noblest poets own her sovereign sway,
And ever follow where she leads the way.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
While the hoarse ocean beats the sounding shore,
Dashed from the strand, the flying waters roar.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
As yet unfold the event on no pretense,
'Tis your chief task to keep us in suspense.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
The vast applause shall reach the starry frame,
No years, no ages shall obscure thy fame,
And Earth's last ends shall hear thy darling name.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
'Tis not enough his verses to complete,
In measure, numbers, or determined feet;
Or render things, by clear expression, bright,
And set each object in a proper light:
To all, proportioned terms he must dispense,
And make the sound a picture of the sense.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
I only pointed out the paths that lead
The panting youth to steep Parnassus' head,
And showed the tuneful Muses from afar,
Mixed in a solemn choir and dancing there.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
With gay descriptions sprinkle here and there
Some grave instructive sentences with care,
That touch on life, some moral good pursue,
And give us virtue in a transient view;
Rules, which the future sire may make his own,
And point the golden precepts to his son.
De Arte Poetica (1527)
Nor would I scruple, with a due regard,
To read sometimes a rude unpolished bard,
Among whose labours I may find a line,
Which from unsightly rust I may refine,
And, with a better grace, adopt it into mine.
De Arte Poetica (1527)