Fitz-Greene Halleck Quotes

12 Sourced Quotes

Lord Stafford mines for coal and salt,
The Duke of Norfolk deals in malt,
The Douglas in red herrings.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days!
None knew thee but to love thee, 1
Nor named thee but to praise.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
They love their land because it is their own,
And scorn to give aught other reason why;
Would shake hands with a king upon his throne,
And think it kindness to his Majesty.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
Strike—for your altars and your fires!
Strike—for the green graves of your sires!
God, and your native land!

Fitz-Greene Halleck
There is an evening twilight of the heart,
When its wild passion-waves are lulled to rest.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
One of the few, the immortal names,
That were not born to die.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
'tis a rough land of earth and stone and tree,
Where breathes no castled lord or cabined slave;
Where thought, and tongues, and hands are bold and free,
And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave;
And where none kneel, save when to Heaven they pray,
Nor even then, unless in their own way.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
Come to the bridal chamber, Death!
Come to the mother's, when she feels
For the first time her first-born's breath!
Come when the blessed seals
That close the pestilence are broke,
And crowded cities wail its stroke!
Come in consumption's ghastly form,
The earthquake shock, the ocean storm!
Come when the heart beats high and warm,
With banquet song, and dance, and wine!
And thou art terrible!—the tear,
The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier,
And all we know or dream or fear
Of agony are thine. But to the hero, when his sword
Has won the battle for the free,
Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word;
And in its hollow tones are heard
The thanks of millions yet to be.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
I cannot spare the luxury of believing that all things beautiful are what they seem.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines,
Shrines to no code or creed confined,—
The Delphian vales, the Palestines,
The Meccas of the mind.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
Ere the dolphin dies
Its hues are brightest. Like an infant's breath
Are tropic winds before the voice of death.

Fitz-Greene Halleck
What is man's love? His vows are broke even while his parting kiss is warm.

Fitz-Greene Halleck