Quote#Nature
Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd
Quote byWilliam Cowper · 1731–1800
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Table Talk (1782), Line 556.
English (original)
Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard: To carry nature lengths unknown before, To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more.
— William Cowper
More from William Cowper
Beware of desp'rate steps! The darkest day (Live till tomorrow) will have passed away.
But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast; The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, And frustrate hope severer than despair.
Damned below Judas; more abhorred than he was.
Man disobeys, and deity disowns me.
Oh! I could thresh his old jacket till I made his pension jingle in his pockets.