The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathéd horn.
‘The world is too much with us’ (1807).
The Poet writes under one restriction only, namely, that of the necessity of giving pleasure to a
human Being possessed of that information which may be expected from him, not as a lawyer, a
physician, a mariner, an astronomer or a natural philosopher, but as a Man.
‘Lyrical Ballads’ (2nd ed., 1802) preface
Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the impassioned expression which is
in the countenance of all science.
‘Lyrical Ballads’ (2nd ed., 1802) preface
Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion
recollected in tranquillity.
‘Lyrical Ballads’ (2nd ed., 1802) preface
Never forget what I believe was observed to you by Coleridge, that every great and original
writer, in proportion as he is great and original, must himself create the taste by which he is to be
relished.
Letter to Lady Beaumont, 21 May 1807
11.136 Sir Henry Wotton 1568-1639
How happy is he born and taught
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!
‘The Character of a Happy Life’
Who God doth late and early pray
More of his grace than gifts to lend;
And entertains the harmless day
With a religious book, or friend.
This man is freed from servile bands,
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall:—
Lord of himself, though not of lands,
And having nothing, yet hath all.
‘The Character of a Happy Life’
He first deceased; she for a little tried
To live without him: liked it not, and died.
‘Death of Sir Albertus Moreton’s Wife’
You meaner beauties of the night,