It’s not easy for people to rise out of obscurity when they have to face straitened circumstances
at home.
‘Satires’ no. 3, l. 164
Omnia Romae Cum pretio.
Everything in Rome has its price.
‘Satires’ no. 3, l. 183
Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cycno.
A rare bird on this earth, like nothing so much as a black swan.
‘Satires’ no. 6, l. 165
Hoc volo, sic iubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas.
I will have this done, so I order it done; let my will replace reasoned judgement.
‘Satires’ no. 6, l. 223
‘Pone seram, cohibe.’ Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? Cauta est et ab illis incipit uxor.
‘Bolt her in, keep her indoors.’ But who is to guard the guards themselves? Your wife arranges
accordingly and begins with them.
‘Satires’ no. 6, l. 347
Tenet insanabile multos
Scribendi cacoethes et aegro in corde senescit.
Many suffer from the incurable disease of writing, and it becomes chronic in their sick minds.
‘Satires’ no. 7, l. 51
Summum crede nefas animam praeferre pudori Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas.
Count it the greatest sin to prefer mere existence to honour, and for the sake of life to lose the
reasons for living.
‘Satires’ no. 8, l. 83
Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.
Travel light and you can sing in the robber’s face.
‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 22
Verbosa et grandis epistula venit A Capreis.
A huge wordy letter came from Capri.
On the Emperor Tiberius’s letter to the Senate, which caused the downfall of Sejanus in A.D. 31; ‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 71
Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses.
Only two things does he worry about or long for—bread and the big match.
‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 80 (on the modern citizen; commonly quoted ‘bread and circuses’)
Expende Hannibalem: quot libras in duce summo Invenies?
Weigh Hannibal: how many pounds will you find in that great general?
‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 147
I, demens, et saevas curre per Alpes Ut pueris placeas et declamatio fias.
Off you go, madman, and hurry across the horrible Alps, duly to delight schoolboys and
become a subject for practising speech-making.
‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 166 (on Hannibal)
Mors sola fatetur
Quantula sint hominum corpuscula.
Death alone reveals how small are men’s poor bodies.
‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 172 (on Hannibal)
Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano.
You should pray to have a sound mind in a sound body.
‘Satires’ no. 10, l. 356
Prima est haec ultio, quod se Iudice nemo nocens absolvitur.
This is the first of punishments, that no guilty man is acquitted if judged by himself.
‘Satires’ no. 13, l. 2
Quippe minuti
Semper et infirmi est animi exiguique voluptas Ultio.
Indeed, it’s always a paltry, feeble, tiny mind that takes pleasure in revenge.
‘Satires’ no. 13, l. 189
Maxima debetur puero reverentia, siquid Turpe paras, nec tu pueri contempseris annos.
A child deserves the maximum respect; if you ever have something disgraceful in mind, don’t
ignore your son’s tender years.
‘Satires’ no. 14, l. 47
11.0K
11.1Franz Kafka 1883-1924
Jemand musste Josef K. verleumdet haben, denn ohne dass er etwas Böses getan hätte, wurde er eines Morgens verhaftet.
Someone must have traduced Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was
arrested one fine morning.
‘Der Prozess’ (The Trial, 1925) opening words
Sie können einwenden, dass es ja überhaupt kein Verfahren ist, Sie haben sehr recht, denn es ist ja nur ein Verfahren, wenn ich es als solches anerkenne.
You may object that it is not a trial at all; you are quite right, for it is only a trial if I recognize
it as such.
‘Der Prozess’ (The Trial, 1925) ch. 2
Es ist oft besser, in Ketten, als frei zu sein.
It’s often better to be in chains than to be free.
‘Der Prozess’ (The Trial, 1925) ch. 8
Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träume erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt.
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his
bed into a gigantic insect.
‘Die Verwandlung’ (The Metamorphosis, 1915) opening words
11.2 Gus Kahn 1886-1941 and Raymond B. Egan 1890-1952
There’s nothing surer,
The rich get rich and the poor get children. In the meantime, in between time,
Ain’t we got fun.
‘Ain’t We Got Fun’ (1921 song)
11.3 Bert Kalmar 1884-1947, Harry Ruby 1895-1974, Arthur Sheekman 1891-1978, and Nat Perrin
Remember, you’re fighting for this woman’s honour...which is probably more than she ever did.
‘Duck Soup’ (1933 film); spoken by Groucho Marx
If you can’t leave in a taxi you can leave in a huff. If that’s too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff.
‘Duck Soup’ (1933 film); spoken by Groucho Marx
11.4 Henry Home, Lord Kames 1696-1782
Avoid as much as possible abstract and general terms...Images, which are the life of poetry, cannot be raised in any perfection but by introducing particular objects.
‘Elements of Criticism’ (1762) vol. 1, ch. 4
11.5 Immanuel Kant 1724-1804
Zwen Dinge erfüllen das Gemüth mit immer neuer und zunehmenden Bewunderung und
Ehrfurcht, ie “fter und anhaltender sich das Nachdenken damit beschäfftigt: Der bestimte Himmel über mir, und das moralische Gesetz in mir.
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more seriously reflection concentrates upon them: the starry heaven above me and the moral law
within me.
‘Critique of Practical Reason’ (1788) p. 2
Ich soll niemals anders verfahren, als so, dass ich auch wollen könne, meine Maxime solle ein allgemeines Gesetz werden.
I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a
universal law.
‘Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics’ (1785, translation by T. K. Abbott) sect. 1
Endlich giebt es einen Imperativ, der, ohne irgend eine andere durch ein gewisses Verhalten zu erreichende Absicht als Bedingung zum Grunde zu legen, dieses Verhalten unmittelbar gebietet. Dieser Imperativ ist categorisch...Dieser Imperativ mag der der Sittlichkeit heissen.
Finally, there is an imperative which commands a certain conduct immediately, without having as its condition any other purpose to be attained by it. This imperative is Categorical...This
imperative may be called that of Morality.
‘Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics’ (1785, translation by T. K. Abbott) sect. 2
Wer den Zweck will, will (so fern die Vernunft auf seine Handlungen entscheidenden Einfluss hat), auch das dazu unentbehrlich nothwendige Mittel, das in seiner Gewalt ist.
Whoever wills the end, wills also (so far as reason decides his conduct) the means in his power
which are indispensably necessary thereto.
‘Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics’ (1785, translation by T. K. Abbott) sect. 2
Glückseligkeit nicht ein Ideal der Vernunft, sondern der Einbildungstraft ist.
Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination.
‘Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics’ (1785, translation by T. K. Abbott) sect. 2
Handle so, dass du die Menschheit, so wohl in deiner Person, als in der Person eines jeden andern, jederzeit zugleich als Zweck, niemals blos als Mittel brauchest.
So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case
as an end withal, never as means only.
‘Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics’ (1785, translation by T. K. Abbott) sect. 2
Aus so krummem Holze, als woraus der Mensch gemacht ist, kann nichts ganz gerades gezimmert werden.
Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing can ever be made.
‘Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgerlicher Absicht’ (1784) proposition 6
11.6 Alphonse Karr 1808-90
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
The more things change, the more they are the same.
‘Les Guêpes’ January 1849
Si l’on veut abolir la peine de mort en ce cas, que MM les assassins commencent.
If we are to abolish the death penalty, I should like to see the first step taken by our friends the
murderers.
‘Les Guêpes’ January 1849
11.7 George S. Kaufman 1889-1961
Satire is what closes Saturday night.
In Scott Meredith ‘George S. Kaufman and his Friends’ (1974) ch. 6
11.8 Gerald Kaufman 1930—
The longest suicide note in history.
Describing the Labour Party’s ‘New Hope for Britain’ (1983), in Denis Healey ‘The Time of My Life’ (1989) ch. 23
11.9 Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony
Poetry in motion.
Title of song (1960).
11.10 Christoph Kaufmann 1753-95
Sturm und Drang.
Storm and stress.
Title suggested by Kaufman for a romantic drama of the American War of Independence by the German playwright, F. M. Klinger (1775) and thereafter given to a period of literary ferment which prevailed in Germany during the latter part of the 18th century
11.11 Patrick Kavanagh 1905-67
Cassiopeia was over Cassidy’s hanging hill,
I looked and three whin bushes rode across The horizon—the Three Wise Kings.
‘A Christmas Childhood’ (1947)
Clay is the word and clay is the flesh
Where the potato-gatherers like mechanized scarecrows move Along the side-fall of the hill—Maguire and his men.
‘The Great Hunger’ (1947)
That was how his life happened. No mad hooves galloping in the sky,
But the weak, washy way of true tragedy—
A sick horse nosing around the meadow for a clean place to die.
‘The Great Hunger’ (1947)
I hate what every poet hates in spite
Of all the solemn talk of contemplation. Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight Of being king and government and nation. A road, a mile of kingdom, I am king
Of banks and stones and every blooming thing.
‘Inniskeen Road: July Evening’ (1936).
11.12 Ted Kavanagh 1892-1958
Can I do you now, sir?
‘Mrs Mopp’ in ‘ITMA’ (BBC radio programme, 1939-49)
I go—I come back.
‘Ali Oop’ in ‘ITMA’ (BBC radio programme, 1939-49)
It’s being so cheerful as keeps me going.
‘Mona Lott’ in ‘ITMA’ (BBC radio programme, 1939-49)
11.13 Denis Kearney 1847-1907
Horny-handed sons of toil.
Speaking in San Francisco, c.1878.
11.14 John Keats 1795-1821
Other spirits there are standing apart Upon the forehead of the age to come.
‘Addressed to [Haydon]’ (1817)
Bards of Passion and of Mirth, Ye have left your souls on earth! Have ye souls in heaven too, Double-lived in regions new?
‘Bards of Passion and of Mirth’ (1820)
Where the nightingale doth sing Not a senseless, trancéd thing, But divine melodious truth.
‘Bards of Passion and of Mirth’ (1820)
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art— Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night, And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores.
‘Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art’ (1819)
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, And so live ever—or else swoon to death.
‘Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art’ (1819)
The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone!
Sweet voice, sweet lips, soft hand, and softer breast.
‘The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone’ (written 1819)
The imagination of a boy is healthy, and the mature imagination of a man is healthy; but there is a space of life between, in which the soul is in a ferment, the character undecided, the way of life uncertain, the ambition thick-sighted: thence proceeds mawkishness.
‘Endymion’ (1818) preface
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 1, l. 1
The grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead.
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 1, l. 20
They alway must be with us, or we die.
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 1, l. 33
Who, of men, can tell
That flowers would bloom, or that green fruit would swell To melting pulp, that fish would have bright mail,
The earth its dower of river, wood, and vale, The meadows runnels, runnels pebble-stones, The seed its harvest, or the lute its tones, Tones ravishment, or ravishment its sweet, If human souls did never kiss and greet?
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 1, l. 835
Here is wine,
Alive with sparkles—never, I aver, Since Ariadne was a vintager,
So cool a purple.
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 2, l. 441
To Sorrow,
I bade good-morrow,
And thought to leave her far away behind; But cheerly, cheerly,
She loves me dearly;
She is so constant to me, and so kind.
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 4, l. 173
Their smiles,
Wan as primroses gathered at midnight By chilly fingered spring.
‘Endymion’ (1818) bk. 4, l. 969
St Agnes’ Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was! The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limped trembling through the frozen grass, And silent was the flock in woolly fold.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 1
The sculptured dead, on each side, seem to freeze, Emprisoned in black, purgatorial rails.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 2
The silver, snarling trumpets ’gan to chide.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 4
And soft adorings from their loves receive Upon the honeyed middle of the night.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 6
The music, yearning like a God in pain.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 7
A poor, weak, palsy-stricken, churchyard thing.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 18
Out went the taper as she hurried in;
Its little smoke, in pallid moonshine, died.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 23
A casement high and triple-arched there was, All garlanded with carven imag’ries
Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass, And diamonded with panes of quaint device, Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes,
As are the tiger-moth’s deep-damasked wings.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 24
By degrees
Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 26
Trembling in her soft and chilly nest.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 27
As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 27
And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep, In blanchéd linen, smooth, and lavendered,
While he from forth the closet brought a heap Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd; With jellies soother than the creamy curd,
And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon; Manna and dates, in argosy transferred From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one, From silken Samarcand to cedared Lebanon.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 30
He played an ancient ditty, long since mute,
In Provence called, ‘La belle dame sans mercy.’
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 33
And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 40
And they are gone: aye, ages long ago These lovers fled away into the storm.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 42
The Beadsman, after thousand aves told,
For aye unsought for slept among his ashes cold.
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ (1820) st. 42
Fanatics have their dreams, wherewith they weave A paradise for a sect.
‘The Fall of Hyperion’ (written 1819) l. 1
‘None can usurp this height,’ returned that shade, ‘But those to whom the miseries of the world Are misery, and will not let them rest.’
‘The Fall of Hyperion’ (written 1819) l. 147
The poet and the dreamer are distinct, Diverse, sheer opposite, antipodes.
The one pours out a balm upon the world, The other vexes it.
‘The Fall of Hyperion’ (written 1819) l. 199
Ever let the fancy roam, Pleasure never is at home.
‘Fancy’ (1820) l. 1
O sweet Fancy! let her loose; Summer’s joys are spoilt by use.
‘Fancy’ (1820) l. 9
Where’s the cheek that doth not fade, Too much gazed at? Where’s the maid Whose lip mature is ever new?
‘Fancy’ (1820) l. 69
Where’s the face
One would meet in every place?
‘Fancy’ (1820) l. 73
Four seasons fill the measure of the year; There are four seasons in the mind of man.
‘The Human Seasons’ (1819)
Deep in the shady sadness of a vale
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, Far from the fiery noon, and eve’s one star, Sat grey-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone.
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 1
No stir of air was there,
Not so much life as on a summer’s day
Robs not one light seed from the feathered grass, But where the dead leaf fell, there did it rest.
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 7
The Naiad ’mid her reeds
Pressed her cold finger closer to her lips.
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 13
That large utterance of the early gods!
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 51
O aching time! O moments big as years!
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 64
As when, upon a trancéd summer-night, Those green-robed senators of mighty woods, Tall oaks, branch-charméd by the earnest stars, Dream, and so dream all night without a stir.
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 72
Sometimes eagle’s wings,
Unseen before by gods or wondering men, Darkened the place.
‘Hyperion: A Fragment’ (1820) bk. 1, l. 182
And still they were the same bright, patient stars.
