Quote#Nature
Ho! then, the splendour
Quote byWilliam Ernest Henley · 1849–1903
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Song of the Sword, and Other Verses (London: David Nutt, 1892), title poem.
English (original)
Ho! then, the splendour And sheen of my ministry, Clothing the earth With a livery of lightnings! Ho! then, the music Of battles in onset And ruining armours, And God's gift returning In fury to God! Glittering and keen As the song of the winter stars, Ho! then, the sound Of my voice, the implacable Angel of Destiny!— I am the Sword.
— William Ernest Henley
More from William Ernest Henley
Far in the stillness a cat Languishes loudly. A cinder Falls, and the shadows Lurch to the leap of the flame.
Bland as a Jesuit, sober as a hymn.
Hark how the Trumpet, The mistress of mistresses, Calls, silver-throated And stern, where the tables Are spread, and the work Of the Lord is in hand!
Life is (I think) a blunder and a shame.
From the winter's gray despair, From the summer’s golden languor, Death, the lover of Life, Frees us for ever.
Valiant in velvet, light in ragged luck, Most vain, most generous, sternly critical, Buffoon and poet, lover and sensualist: A deal of Ariel, just a streak of Puck, Much Antony, of Hamlet most of all, And something of the Shorter-Catechist.