37 Quotes by William Watson

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.

And though circuitous and obscureThe feet of Nemesis how sure!

Braying of arrogant brass, whimper of querulous reeds.

A dreamer of the common dreams, A fisher in familiar streams, He chased the transitory gleams That all pursue; But on his lips the eternal themes Again were new.

Threadbare his songs seem now, to lettered ken: They were worn threadbare next the hearts of men.

He saw wan Woman toil with famished eyes; He saw her bound, and strove to sing her free. He saw her fall'n; and wrote "The Bridge of Sighs"; And on it crossed to immortality.

God, eldest of Poets.

Too long, that some may rest, tired millions toil unblest.

Lord of the golden tongue and smiting eyes; Great out of season and untimely wise: A man whose virtue, genius, grandeur, worth, Wrought deadlier ill than ages can undo.