William Wetmore Story Quotes

William Wetmore Story writes thoughtful, poetic reflections on art and expression.

10 quotes

1. I sing the hymn of the conquered, who fell in the Battle of Life,- The hymn of the wounded, the beaten, who died overwhelmed in the strife:. The hymn of the low and the humble, the weary, the broken in heart, Who strove and who failed, acting bravely a silent and desperate part.

2. And all but their faith overthrown.

3. Ah me! the vision has vanished, The music has died away!

4. Of every noble work the silent part is best, Of all expression that which can not be expressed.

5. The Poet in his Art Must intimate the whole, and say the smallest part.

6. The shadows of twilight grow, And the tiger’s ancient fierceness In my veins begins to flow.

7. Of every noble work the silent part is best; of all expression, that which cannot be expressed.

8. But the gray and the cold are haunted by a beauty akin to pain, by a sense of a something wanted that never will come again.

9. They only the victory win, Who have fought the good fight and have vanquished the demon that tempts us within; Who have held to their faith unseduced by the prize that the world holds on high; Who have dared for a high cause to suffer, resist, fight -- if need be, to die.

10. Oh! faint delicious spring-time violet, Thine odor like a key, Turns noiselessly in memory's wards to let A thought of sorrow free.