English Poetry Quotes

“I did best when I had least truth for my subjects.”
― John Donne, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose

“[Poetry] is a field where England can take on all challengers.”
― Patrick Leigh Fermor, A Time of Gifts

“Love thou thy dream
All base love scorning,
Love thou the wind
And here take warning
That dreams alone can truly be,
For 'tis in dream I come to thee.

Ezra Pound, The Song
trad. Ungaretti:

Ama il tuo sogno
Ama il tuo sogno
Ogni inferiore amore disprezzando,
Il vento ama
Ed accorgiti qui
Che i sogni solo possono veramente essere,
Perciò in sogno a raggiungerti m’avvio.”
― Ezra Pound

“Things senseless live by art, and rational die
By rude contempt of art and industry.”
― Christopher Marlowe, Hero and Leander

“All reflect on this mirror like world, all our thoughts; its deeds bright or dark, and in glad or gloom, we must pass the time! and the dreams in flow, like a shining river, with a rush to reach the surging seas.”
― Nithin Purple

“In phantom father's shadow, I still roam,
A love unwritten, a yearning for home.
First male touch, a myth my heart craves,
His absence echoes in unspoken graves.

I search for him in faces passing by,
A familiar line, a flicker in their eye.
His name a whisper on the wind's soft sigh,
A ghost I chase, a tear that won't dry.

But love, it blooms in unexpected ways,
In mentors' wisdom, friends' unwavering gaze.
In echoes of kindness, hands that hold me tight,
In lessons learned from shadows and from light.

So father, phantom, wherever you may be,
Though you left me wanting, I set myself free.
From the chains of longing, the hunger for your face,
I build my own fortress, in this heart's embrace.

With threads of resilience, I weave my own song,
A tapestry of strength, where I belong.
No longer searching in the empty air,
My love blooms within, a flame I dare to share.

And though the echo of your absence may remain,
It no longer defines me, a dance in the rain.
I rise above the loss, with spirit bright and bold,
My own story unfolds, in colors yet untold.

So let the phantom father fade into the mist,
His memory a whisper, a lesson I've kissed.
For I am the daughter, of courage and grace,
And love, my own compass, lights up this space.”
― Mriganka Sekhar Ganguly