Poet

Explore 1478 quotes by Poets

And I honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his present repute for the freedom to think,
And, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,
Will risk t' other half for the freedom to speak.

James Russell Lowell

A Fable of Critics

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Topic

Taking risks Freedom of thought Freedom of speech and expression

Author

James Russell Lowell

Source

A Fable of Critics

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lowell, James Russell [published anonymously]. A Fable for Critics: A Glance at a Few of Our Literary Progenies. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1848.

Time, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?

Ralph Hodgson

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Topic

Relentlessness of time Time

Author

Ralph Hodgson

Source

Time, You Old Gipsy Man

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hodgson, Ralph. "Time, You Old Gipsy Man." Poems. The Macmillan Company, 1917, I. 1.

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

Robert Frost

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Topic

Spring Seasons

Author

Robert Frost

Source

Two Tramps in Mud Time

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1934 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Frost, Robert. "Two Tramps in Mud Time." Saturday Review of Literature, 6 Oct. 1934, st. 3.

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

More information about this quote

Topic

Wilderness Nature Environmental destruction

Author

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Source

Inversnaid

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hopkins, Gerard Manley. "Inversnaid." Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Humphrey Milford, 1918, I. 13.

Current Citation

Hopkins, Gerard Manley. "Inversnaid." Gerard Manley Hopkins: The Major Works, edited by Catherine Phillips. Oxford University Press, 2009.

I think continually of those who were truly great... The names of those who in their lives fought for life,
Who wore at their hearts the fire's center.
Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.

Stephen Spender

More information about this quote

Topic

Greatness

Author

Stephen Spender

Source

The Truly Great

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Spender, Stephen. "I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great." Poems. Faber and Faber, 1933.

The fates have given mankind a patient soul.

Homer

The Iliad

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Topic

Patience

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk. 24, l. 49.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 24, l. 49.

Whosoever obeys the gods, to him they particularly listen.

Homer

The Iliad

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Topic

Obedience to God

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk. 1, l. 218.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 1, l. 218.

Have patience, heart. Once you endured worse than this.

Homer

The Odyssey

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Topic

Patience Perseverance

Author

Homer

Source

The Odyssey

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 20, l. 18.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 20, l. 18.

Therefore don't you be gentle to your wife either. Don't tell her everything you know, but tell her one thing and keep another thing hidden.

Homer

The Odyssey

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Topic

Trustworthiness of women Gender relations Marriage Secrets

Author

Homer

Source

The Odyssey

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 11, l. 441-443.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 11, l. 441-443.

Love is a thing as any spirit free.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales

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Topic

Nature of love Love

Author

Geoffrey Chaucer

Source

The Canterbury Tales

Language

Old English

Time

1400 1400s 14th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Franklin's Tale." The Canterbury Tales. London: William Caxton, c. 1476.

Current Citation

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Franklin's Tale." The Canterbury Tales, edited and translated by Nevill Coghill. Penguin Classics, 2003.

May the gods grant you all things which your heart desires, and may they give you a husband and a home and gracious concord, for there is nothing greater and better than this-when a husband and wife keep a household in oneness of mind, a great woe to their enemies and joy to their friends and win high renown.

Homer

The Odyssey

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Topic

Marriage

Author

Homer

Source

The Odyssey

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Statement Type

Well-wishing

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 6, l. 180-185.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 6, l. 180-185.

Come hither, renowned Odysseus, hither, you pride and glory of all Achaea! Pause with your ship; listen to our song. Never has any man passed this way in his dark vessel and left unheard the honey-sweet music from our lips; first he has taken his delight, then gone on his way a wiser man. We know of all the sorrows in the wide land of Troy that Argives and Trojans bore because the gods would needs have it so; we know of all things that come to pass on the fruitful earth.

Homer

The Odyssey

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Topic

Temptation

Author

Homer

Source

The Odyssey

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 12, l. 184-191.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 12, l. 184-191.

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.

Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass

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Topic

Simplicity

Author

Walt Whitman

Source

Leaves of Grass

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Writing advice

Language

English

Time

1855 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York: Self-published, 1855, preface.

Current Citation

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass: The Complete 1855 and 1891-2 Editions. Library of America, 2011, preface to 1855 edition.

Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Topic

Power of love Love

Speaker

Helena

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1599 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, c. 1599, The Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act. 1, sc. 1.

The first beginnings of things cannot be distinguished by the eye.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

New beginnings

Author

Lucretius

Source

On the Nature of Things

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

55 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. De Rerum Natura [On the Nature of Things]. c. 55 BC, bk. 1, l. 268.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 268.

Why should truth not be impress'd
Beneath the cover of a jest.

Horace

Satires

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Topic

Jokes Humor

Author

Horace

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

34 BC 30s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Romulus. Quoted in Saturae [Satires], written by Horace. c. 35 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Romulus. Quoted in Satires and Epistles, written by Horace, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 1.

It's difficult not to write satire.

Juvenal

Satires

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Topic

Satire

Author

Juvenal

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

127 120s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Juvenal. Satirae [Satires]. c. 127, satire 1.

Current Citation

Juvenal. The Satires, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2008, satire 1.

Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Fate

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 5, sc. 1

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, 2015, act 5, sc. 1.

What Fates impose, that men must needs abide;
It boots not to resist both wind and tide.

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

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Topic

Yielding to fate Fate

Speaker

King Edward IV

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry VI, Part 3

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Language

English

Time

1595 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry VI, Part 3. London: Thomas Millington, 1595, act 4, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Third Part of Henry the Sixth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 3.

Though Fortune’s malice overthrow my state,
My mind exceeds the compass of her wheel.

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

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Topic

Delusion Fortune

Speaker

King Edward IV

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry VI, Part 3

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Language

English

Time

1595 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry the Sixth, Part 3. London: Thomas Millington, 1595, act 4, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Third Part of Henry the Sixth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 3.