Quote#Poetry
The most generous of critics, if he is to be discriminating and just,…
Quote byAlfred Austin · 1835–1913
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Bridling of Pegasus (1910), "The Essentials of Great Poetry", p. 7..
English (original)
The most generous of critics, if he is to be discriminating and just, cannot, let me say again, allow that any verse which is profoundly obscure or utterly unmusical, no matter how intellectual in substance, deserves the appellation of poetry. But on a very thin thread of meaning poetry, or a very fair imitation of it, may be hung by the aid of musical sound.
— Alfred Austin
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Friendship craves The commerce of the mind, not the exchange Of emulous feasts that foster sycophants.
Know, Nature, like the cuckoo, laughs at law, Placing her eggs in whatso nest she will.
And Clara dies that Claribel may dance.
Then, without toil, by vale and mountain side, Men found their few and simple wants supplied; Plenty, like dew, dropped subtle from the air, And Earth's fair gifts rose prodigal as prayer. Love, with no charms except its own to lure, Was …
Let your house Be spacious more than splendid, and be books And busts your most conspicuous furniture.
Friendship, 'tis said, is love without his wings, And friendship, sir, is sweet enough for me.