Quote#Wisdom
The angels keep their ancient places;—
Quote byFrancis Thompson · 1859–1907
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Kingdom of God (1907), St. 4..
English (original)
The angels keep their ancient places;— Turn but a stone, and start a wing! ‘Tis ye, ‘tis your estrangèd faces, That miss the many-splendoured thing.
— Francis Thompson
More from Francis Thompson
The fairest things have fleetest end, Their scent survives their close: But the rose's scent is bitterness To him that loved the rose.
Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.
O GAIN that lurk’st ungainèd in all gain! O love we just fall short of in all love! O height that in all heights art still above! O beauty that dost leave all beauty pain! Thou unpossessed that mak’st possession vain,
The hills look over on the South, And Southward dreams the sea; And with the sea-breeze hand in hand, Came innocence and she.
Nothing begins, and nothing ends, That is not paid with moan, For we are born in other's pain, And perish in our own.
Thou canst not stir a flower / Without troubling of a star.