32 quotes
When streams of unkindness, as bitter as gall,
Bubble up from the heart to the tongue,
And Meekness is writhing in torment and thrall,
By the hands of Ingratitude wrung, —
In the heat of injustice, unwept and unfair,
While the anguish is festering yet,
None, none but an angel or God can declare
"I now can forgive and forget."
Ballads for the Times (1851)
Terms ill defined, and forms misunderstood,
And customs, when their reasons are unknown,
Have stirred up many zealous souls
To fight against imaginary giants.
Open the casement, and up with the Sun!
His gallant journey is just begun;
Over the hills his chariot is roll'd,
Banner'd with glory, and burnish'd with gold,—
Over the hills he comes sublime,
Bridegroom of Earth, and brother of Time!
Ballads for the Times (1851)
O fair, false city, thou gay and gilded harlot!
Wo for thy wanton heart, wo for thy wicked hardness!
Wo unto thee, that the lightsomeness of life, beneath Italian suns,
Should meet the solemnity of death, in a sepulchre so foul and fearful!
Proverbial Philosophy (1838)
I am not old, — I cannot be old,
Though tottering, wrinkled, and gray ;
Though my eyes are dim, and my marrow is cold,
Call me not old to-day.
A Thousand Lines (1846)
His fashion is passion, sincere and intense, —
His impulse is simple and true;
Yet temper'd by judgment, and taught by good sense,
And cordial with me and with you.
Nature's Nobleman (1844)
Who shall guess what I may be?
Who can tell my fortune to me?
For, bravest and brightest that ever was sung
May be — and shall be — the lot of the young!
Ballads for the Times (1851)
Confidence is conqueror of men; victorious both over them and in them;
The iron will of one stout heart shall make a thousand quail:
A feeble dwarf, dauntlessly resolved, will turn the tide of battle,
And rally to a nobler strife the giants that had fled.
"Let byegones be byegones,”—they foolishly say,
And bid me be wise and forget them;
But old recollections are active to-day,
And I can do nought but regret them;
Though the present be pleasant, all joyous and gay,
And promising well for the morrow,
I love to look back on the years past away,
Embalming my byegones in sorrow.
Ballads for the Times (1851)
Away with false fashion, so calm and so chill,
Where pleasure itself cannot please;
Away with cold breeding, that faithlessly still
Affects to be quite at its ease;
For the deepest in feeling is highest in rank,
The freest is first of the band,
Nature's own Nobleman, friendly and frank,
Is a man with his heart in his hand!
Nature's Nobleman (1844)
Fearless in honesty, gentle yet just,
He warmly can love, and can hate;
Nor will he bow down, with his face in the dust,
To Fashion's intolerant state
Nature's Nobleman (1844)
Eye hath not seen, tongue hath not told,
And ear hath not heard it sung,
How buoyant and bold, though it seem to grow old,
Is the heart, forever young; — Forever young, — though life's old age
Hath every nerve unstrung:
The heart, the heart, is a heritage
That keeps the old man young!
A Thousand Lines (1846)