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Quote#God & Faith

Poetry is of so subtile a spirit, that in the pouring out of one…

Quote byJohn Denham · 1615–1669

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Destruction of Troy (1656), Preface.

English (original)

poetry is of so subtile a spirit, that in the pouring out of one language into another, it will all evaporate; and if a new spirit be not added in the transfusion, there will remain nothing but a caput mortuum, there being certain graces and happinesses peculiar to every language, which give life and energy to the words...

— John Denham

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