VISIONS VISIONS
Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
Omnibus est vite; set famam extendere factis
Hoc virtutis opus.
Every man has his appointed day; life is brief and irrevocable; but it is the work of virtue to extend our fame by our deeds.
Virtue's a stronger guard than brass.
Edmund Waller—Epigram Upon the Golden Medal. L. 14. </poem>
Good company and good discourse are the
very sinews of virtue.
Izaak Walton—Compleat Angler. Pt. I. Ch.
To Virtue's humblest son let none prefer
Vice, though descended from the conqueror.
Young—Love of Fame. Satire I. L. 141.
Virtue alone outbuilds the pyramids:
Her monuments shall last, when Egypt's fall.
Young—Night Thoughts. Night VI. L. 314.
His crimes forgive; forgive his virtues too.
Young—Night Thoughts. Night IX. L. 2,290.
| seealso = (See also {{sc|Tennyson)
VISIONS
Circa beatitudinem perfectam, qua? in Dei
visione consistit.
Concerning perfect blessedness which consists in a vision of God.
Thomas Aquinas—Sumrna Theologie. Probably the origin of the phrase "beatific
vision."
And like a passing thought, she fled
In light away.
Burns—The Vision. Last lines.
The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme!
The young men's vision, and the old men's dream!
Dryden—Absalom and Achitophel. Pt. I. L.
238.
So little distant dangers seem:
So we mistake the future's face,
Ey'd thro' Hope's deluding glass;
As yon summits soft and fair,
Clad in colours of the air,
Which to those who journey near,
Barren, brown, and rough appear.
Dyer—Gronger Hill. L. 884.
Visions of glory, spare my aching sight!
Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soul.
Gray—The Bard. III. 1. L. 11.
I wonder if ever a song was sung but the singer's
heart sang sweeter!
I wonder if ever a rhyme was rung but the
thought surpassed the meter!
I wonder if ever a sculptor wrought till the cold
stone echoed his ardent thought!
Or, if ever a painter with light and shade the
dream of his inmost heart portrayed!
James C. Harvey—/
I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes.
Hosea. XII. 10.
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel, writing in a book of gold;
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said—
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its
head,
And, with a look made all of sweet accord,
Answered, "The names of those who love the
Lord."
Leigh Hunt—AbouBen Adhem and the Angel.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions.
Joel. II. 28. Acts. II. 17.
It is a dream, sweet child! a waking dream,
A blissful certainty, a vision bright,
Of that rare happiness, which even on earth
Heaven gives to those it loves.
| author = Longfellow
| work = Spanish Student. Act III. Sc.5.
An angel stood and met my gaze,
Through the low doorway of my tent;
The tent is struck, the vision stays;
I only know she came and went.
| author = Lowell
| work = She Came and Went.
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimaeras dire.
| author = Milton
| work = Paradise Lost.
| place = Bk. II. L. 628.
O visions ill foreseen! Better had I
Liv'd ignorant of future, so had borne
My part of evil only.
| author = Milton
| work = Paradise Lost.
| place = Bk. XL L. 763.
My thoughts by night are often filled
With visions false as fair:
For in the past alone, I build
My castles in the air.
Thos. Love Peacock—Castles in the Air
St. 1.
Hence the fool's paradise, the statesman's scheme,
The air-built castle ; and the golden dream,
The maid's romantic wish, the chemist's flame,
And poet's vision of eternal fame.
| author = Pope
| work = Dunciad.
| place = Bk. III. L. 9.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverbs. XXLX. 18.
{{Hoyt quote
| num = | text = <poem>Hence, dear delusion, sweet enchantment hence!
Horace and James Smith—Rejected Addresses. An Address without a Phoenix. By"S. T. P." (Not an imitation. Initials used to puzzle critics.)
