''“Therefore, since the world has still Much good, but much less good than ill, And while the sun and moon endure Lucks a chance, but troubles sure, Id face it as a wise man would, And train for ill and not for good.” ''
''“Now hollow fires burn out to black, And lights are fluttering low: Square your shoulders, lift your pack And leave your friends and go. O never fear, lads, naught’s to dread, Look not left nor right: In all the endless road you tread There’s nothing but the night.” ''
''“Give me a land of boughs in leaf A land of trees that stand; Where trees are fallen there is grief; I love no leafless land.” ''
''“Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose, But young men think it is, and we were young.” ''
''“The stars have not dealt me the worst they could do: My pleasures are plenty, my troubles are two. But oh, my two troubles they reave me of rest, The brains in my head and the heart in my breast. Oh, grant me the ease that is granted so free, The birthright of multitudes, give it to me, That relish their victuals and rest on their bed With flint in the bosom and guts in the head.”''
''“I do not choose the right word, I get rid of the wrong one.”''
''“The sum of things to be known is inexhaustible, and however long we read, we shall never come to the end of our story-book." (Introductory lecture as professor of Latin at University College, London, 3 October 1892)” ''
''“Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows: What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again.”''
''“Stars, I have seen them fall, But when they drop and die No star is lost at all From all the star-sown sky. The toil of all that be Helps not the primal fault; It rains into the sea And still the sea is salt.” ''
''“I, a stranger and afraid In a world I never made.” ''
''“Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.” ''
''“Here dead lie we because we did not choose To live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; But young men think it is, and we were young.”''
''“All knots that lovers tie Are tied to sever. Here shall your sweetheart lie, Untrue for ever.” ''
''“Wanderers eastward, wanderers west, Know you why you cannot rest? Tis that every mothers son Travails with a skeleton. Lie down in the bed of dust; Bear the fruit that bear you must; Bring the eternal seed to light, And morn is all the same as night.” ''
''“Good creatures, do you love your lives And have you ears for sense? Here is a knife like other knives, That cost me eighteen pence. I need but stick it in my heart And down will come the sky, And earths foundations will depart And all you folk will die.” ''
''“The heart from out the bosom Was never given in vain But bought with sighs aplenty And sold for endless rue And now I am two and twenty And oh tis true, tis true”''
''“To stand up straight and tread the turning mill, To lie flat and know nothing and be still, Are the two trades of man; and which is worse I know not, but I know that both are ill.” ''
''“Could man be drunk for ever With liquor, love, or fights, Lief should I rouse at morning And lief lie down of nights. But men at whiles are sober And think by fits and starts, And if they think, they fasten Their hands upon their hearts.” ''
''“June suns, you cannot store them To warm the winters cold, The lad that hopes for heaven Shall fill his mouth with mould.” ''
''“Stone, steel, dominions pass, Faith too, no wonder; So leave alone the grass That I am under.” ''
''“The half-moon westers low, my love, And the wind brings up the rain; And wide apart lie we, my love, And seas between the twain. I know not if it rains, my love, In the land where you do lie; And oh, so sound you sleep, my love, You know no more than I.” ''
''“Existence is not itself a good thing, that we should spend a lifetime securing its necessaries: a life spent, however victoriously, in securing the necessaries of life is no more than an elaborate furnishing and decoration of apartments for the reception of a guest who is never to come. Our business here is not to live, but to live happily.” ''
''“Into my hear an air that kills through yon far country blows what are those blue remembered hills what spires,what farms are those? that is the land of lost content I can see it shining plain the happy highways where I went and cannot come again.” ''
''“Who made the world I cannot tell; Tis made, and here I am in hell.” ''
''“You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lovers say, And happy is the lover. Tis late to hearken, late to smile, But better late than never: I shall have lived a little while Before I die for ever.” ''
''“The thoughts of others Were light and fleeting, Of lovers meeting Or luck or fame. Mine were of trouble, And mine were steady; So I was ready When trouble came.” ''
