Quote#Wisdom
My songs were once of the sunrise
Quote byWilliam Ernest Henley · 1849–1903
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Hawthorn and Lavender (1901), Envoy.
English (original)
My songs were once of the sunrise: They shouted it over the bar; First-footing the dawns, they flourished, And flamed with the morning star.My songs are now of the sunset: Their brows are touched with light, But their feet are lost in the shadows And wet with the dews of night.
— William Ernest Henley
More from William Ernest Henley
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.
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
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!
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.