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It was not to gratify the dull few, whose greatest pleasure in reading a translation is to see what the author exactly says; it was to give a poem that might live in the English language which was the ambition of the Translator. ... And the original is in the hands of the world.

— William Julius Mickle

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More quotes by William Julius Mickle

When nature's happiest touch could add no more,
Heaven lent an angel's beauty to her face.

None but a poet can translate a poet.

The Lusiad; Or, The Discovery of India: an Epic Poem (1776)

The best of parents blest my younger days;
What others teach with frowns, they taught with praise.

For there's nae luck about the house,
There's nae luck at a';
There's little pleasure in the house
When our gudeman's awa'.

The Mariner's Wife (1769)

The present moment is our ain,
The neist we never saw!

The Mariner's Wife (1769)

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