"Theres a joy without canker or cark, Theres a pleasure eternally new, Tis to gloat on the glaze and the mark Of china thats ancient and blue; Unchippd, all the centuries through It has passd, since the chime of it rang, And they fashiond it, figures and hue, In the reign of the Emperor Hwang. Heres a pot with a cot in a park, In a park where the peach-blossoms blew, Where the lovers eloped in the dark, Lived, died, and were changed into two Bright birds that eternally flew Through the boughs of the May, as they sang; Tis a tale was undoubtedly true In the reign of the Emperor Hwang."
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where a potter makes such wares is also called a pottery. The definition of pottery, used by the ASTM International, is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structura
"Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round Without a pause, without a sound: So spins the flying world away! This clay, well mixed with marl and sand, Follows the motion of my hand; For some must follow, and some command, Though all are made of clay!"
"The very "marks" on the bottom of a piece of rare crockery are able to throw me into a gibbering ecstasy."
"Said one among them: "Surely not in vain My substance of the common Earth was taen And to this Figure moulded, to be broke, Or trampled back to shapeless Earth again."
"And yonder by Nankin, behold! The Tower of Porcelain, strange and old, Uplifting to the astonished skies Its ninefold painted balconies, With balustrades of twining leaves, And roofs of tile, beneath whose eaves Hang porcelain bells that all the time Ring with a soft, melodious chime; While the whole fabric is ablaze With varied tints, all fused in one Great mass of color, like a maze Of flowers illumined by the sun."
"The potter, digging the hoe in the ground, for days on end extracting the clay with his hands."
"Thou springst a leak already in thy crown, A flaw is in thy ill-bakd vessel found; Tis hollow, and returns a jarring sound, Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command, Unwrought, and easy to the potters hand: Now take the mould; now bend thy mind to feel The first sharp motions of the forming wheel."