Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.

In sane moments we regard only the facts, the case that is.

It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker.

I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.

The chimney is to some extent an independent structure, standing on the ground, and rising through the house to the heavens; evenafter the house is burned it still stands sometimes, and its importance and independence are apparent.

Give me the old familiar world, post-office and all, with this ever new self, with this infinite expectation and faith, which does not know when it is beaten.

The man I meet with is not often so instructive as the silence he breaks.