Quote#Self
For he did, with his utmost skill
Quote byAndrew Marvell · 1621–1678
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Miscellaneous Poems (1681), Upon Appleton House, stanza 45.
English (original)
For he did, with his utmost skill, Ambition weed, but conscience till: Conscience, that heaven-nursèd plant, Which most our earthy gardens want. A prickling leaf it bears, and such As that which shrinks at every touch; But flowers eternal, and divine, That in the crowns of saints do shine.
— Andrew Marvell
More from Andrew Marvell
The world in all doth but two nations bear — The good, the bad; and these mixed everywhere.
An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart.
For though the whole world cannot show such another, Yet we’d better by far have him than his brother.
Art indeed is long, but life is short.
Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor, in thy marble vault shall sound