Quotes by Abraham Cowley

“We spent them not in toys, in lusts, or wine,But search of deep philosophy,Wit, eloquence, and poetry;Arts which I lov'd, for they, my friend, were thine.”

“Ye fields of Cambridge, our dear Cambridge, say, Have ye not seen us walking every day? Was there a tree about which did not know The love betwixt us two?”

“Poet and Saint! to thee alone are given The two most sacred names of Earth and Heaven.”

“Thou Wert living the same poet which thou'rt now, Whilst Angels sing to thee their airs divine, And joy in an applause so great as thine. Equal society with them to hold, Thou need'st not make new ...”

“Hail, Bard triumphant! and some care bestow On us, the Poets Militant below!”

“His faith, perhaps, in some nice tenets mightBe wrong; his life, I'm sure, was in the right.”

“The thirsty earth soaks up the rain,And drinks, and gapes for drink again;The plants suck in the earth, and areWith constant drinking fresh and fair.”

“Fill all the glasses there, for whyShould every creature drink but I?Why, man of morals, tell me why?”

“I sing the Man who Judahs Scepter boreIn that right hand which held the Crook before;Who from best Poet, best of Kings did grow;The two chief gifts Heav'n could on Man bestow.”

“Ev'en Thou my breast with such blest rage inspire,As mov'd the tuneful strings of Davids Lyre”

“Lo, this great work, a Temple to thy praise,On polisht Pillars of strong Verse I raise!A Temple, where if Thou vouchsafe to dwell,It Solomons, and Herods shall excel.Too long the Muses-Land have He...”

“Well did he know how Palms by oppression speed,Victorious, and the Victors sacred Meed!The Burden lifts them higher. Well did he know,How a tame stream does wild and dangerous growBy unjust force; ...”

“Here Lucifer the mighty Captive reigns;Proud, 'midst his Woes, and Tyrant in his Chains.”

“Unable to corrupt, seek to destroy;And where their Poysons miss, the Sword employ.”