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It is not much that a man can save
On the sands of life, in the straits of time,
Who swims in sight of the great third wave
That never a swimmer shall cross or climb.

— Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems and Ballads: First Series (1866)

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More quotes by Algernon Charles Swinburne

Life is the lust of a lamp for the light that is dark till the dawn of the day that we die.

The Heptalogia (1880)

My loss may shine yet goodlier than your gain
When time and God give judgment.

Marino Faliero (1885)

Fear that makes faith may break faith; and a fool
Is but in folly stable.

Bothwell: A Tragedy (1874)

Night, the shadow of light,
And Life, the shadow of death.

Atalanta in Calydon (1865)

The loves and hours of the life of a man,
They are swift and sad, being born of the sea.

Poems and Ballads: First Series (1866)

All Algernon Charles Swinburne quotes →

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Algernon Charles Swinburne (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.