Edmund Clarence Stedman Quotes
A critic must accept what is best in a poet, and thus become his best encourager.
Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my fights be wild, To Earth I bring; Then let me soar and sing!
Men are egotists, and not all tolerant of one man's selfhood; they do not always deem the amities elective.
Poetry is an art, and chief of the fine art; the easiest to dabble in, the hardest in which to reach true excellence.
But every human path leads on to God; He holds a myriad finer threads than gold, And strong as holy wishes, drawing us With delicate tension upward to Himself.
Fashion is a potency in art, making it hard to judge between the temporary and the lasting.
Genius does not need a special language; it uses newly whatever tongue it finds.
Yes, there's a luck in most things; and in none more than being born at the right time.
Lo, as I gaze, the statured man, Built up from you large hand appears: A type that nature wills to plan But once in all a people's years.
Alas, by what rude fate Our lives, like ships at sea, an instant meet, Then part forever on their courses fleet.
Do your heart and head keep pace? When does hoary Love expire, When do frosts put out the fire? Can its embers burn below All that chill December snow?
Look on this cast, and know the hand That bore a nation in its hold; From this mute witness understand What Lincoln was - how large of mould.
The poet who does not revere his art, and believe in its sovereignty, is not born to wear the purple.
The critic's first labor is the task of distinguishing between men, as history and their works display them, and the ideals which one and another have conspired to urge upon his acceptance.
The poet is a creator, not an iconoclast, and never will tamely endeavor to say in prose what can only be expressed in song.
The weary August days are long; The locusts sing a plaintive song, The cattle miss their master's call When they see the sunset shadows fall.