Quote#Art
This man has talent, that man genius
Quote byW. H. Davies · 1871–1940
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp (1908), Foreword to 1923 edition.
English (original)
This man has talent, that man genius, And here's the strange and cruel difference: Talent gives pence and his reward is gold, Genius gives gold and gets no more than pence.
— W. H. Davies
More from W. H. Davies
The collier's wife had four tall sons Brought from the pit's mouth dead, And crushed from foot to head
Thou shalt not laugh, thou shalt not romp, Let's grimly kiss with bated breath; As quietly and solemnly As Life when it is kissing Death.
Autumn grows old: he, like some simple one, In Summer's castaway is strangely clad
They sniffed, poor things, for their green fields, They cried so loud I could not sleep: For fifty thousand shillings down I would not sail again with sheep.
Sweet Stay-at-Home, sweet Well-content, Thou knowest of no strange continent; Thou hast not felt thy bosom keep A gentle motion with the deep; Thou hast not sailed in Indian seas, Where scent comes forth in every breeze.
From my own kind I only learn How foolish comfort is