William Watson Quotes

April, April,
Laugh thy girlish laughter;
Then, the moment after,
Weep thy girlish tears!

Ladies whose smile embroiled the world.

Deemest thou, labour
Only is earnest?
Grave is all beauty,
Solemn is joy.

To keep in sight Perfection, and adore
The vision, is the artist's best delight;
His bitterest pang, that he can ne'er do more
Than keep her long'd-for loveliness in sight.

The Poet gathers fruit from every tree,
Yea, grapes from thorns and figs from thistles he.
Pluck'd by his hand, the basest weed that grows
Towers to a lily, reddens to a rose.

The stars of heaven are free because
In amplitude of liberty
Their joy is to obey the laws.

Hate and mistrust are the children of blindness.

The votes of veering crowds are not
The things that are more excellent.

Empires dissolve and peoples disappear,
Song passes not away.

Earth is less fragrant now, and heaven more sweet.

The after-silence, when the feast is o'er,
And void the places where the minstrels stood,
Differs in nought from what hath been before,
And is nor ill nor good.

Man looks at his own bliss, considers it,
Weighs it with curious fingers; and 'tis gone.

O be less beautiful, or be less brief.

Braying of arrogant brass, whimper of querulous reeds.

God on His throne is
Eldest of poets:
Unto His measures
Moveth the Whole.