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Letitia Elizabeth Landon Quotes
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Letitia Elizabeth Landon was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.

✵ 14. August 1802 – 15. October 1838
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon: 785 quotes11 likes

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Quotes

“Death has most awful lessons! It is sad,
Aye, strange, to see even the aged die;
But about youth there is a confidence
In life, that makes it terrible.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The London Literary Gazette, 1824

“No book is fairly judged till it is read twice, and at distant periods. It is curious to note the variation of taste in ourselves. I can remember I devoured the story keenly, dwelt on all that partook of sentiment, and never questioned the depth of any remark. I now find that I take chief interest in what brings out character. I enter more into the humourous, and am every now and then tempted to analyse the truth of a deduction. I think more over what I am reading, and delight more in connecting the world of fiction with that of reality.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

No.17. The Monastery — MARY AVENEL.
Literary Remains

“Up climb’d the sweet pea,
The butterfly of flowers:—I love it not,
Though every hue—and it has many tints—
Are dyed as if the sunset evening clouds
Had fallen to the earth in sudden rain,
And left their colours : purple, delicate pink,
And snowy white, are on thy wing-like leaves;
But thou art all too forward in thy bloom;
Thy blossoms are the sun’s, and cling to all
That can support them into open day:
And then they die, leaving no root behind,
The hope and promise of another spring;
And no perfume, whose lingering gratitude
Remains round what upheld its summer’s life.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Last of the St. Aubyns
Heath's book of Beauty, 1833 (1832)

“THE present! it is but a drop from the sea
In the mighty depths of eternity.
I love it not—it taketh its birth
Too near to the dull and the common earth.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Vow of the Peacock (1835)

“Like prisoners escaped during night from their prison,
The waters fling gaily their spray to the sun;
Who can tell me from whence that glad river has risen?
Who can say whence it springs in its beauty?—not one.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Minstrel’s Monitor from Literary Souvenir, 1827
The Vow of the Peacock (1835)

“Though many a flower may win my praise,
The violet has my love;
I did not pass my childish days
In garden or in grove:
My garden was the window-seat,
Upon whose edge was set
A little vase—the fair, the sweet—
It was the violet.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Violet from The Literary Souvenir, 1831
The Vow of the Peacock (1835)

“The Scotch are too cautious to be witty — they take thought beforehand of their answers; they are not people of impulse, and wit is an impulse. "It springs spontaneous if it spring." But then they have humour, rich, racy, sly humour, full of national character, and nearly allied to pathos.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Literary Remains

“T was night, but night which the imperial moon,
Regal in her full beauty, turn'd to noon,
But still the noon of midnight; though the ray
Was clear and bright, it was not that of day;”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Golden Violet - The Child of the Sea
The Golden Violet (1827)

“But as our explanation will be more brief than one broken in upon by words of wonder, regret, and affection, we will proceed to it; holding that explanation, like advice, should be of all convenient shortness.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Heath's book of Beauty, 1833 (1832)

“Blue hyacinths!
Oh, do not show them me; they fill my eyes
With tears too soft for such a scene as this.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Ancestress (Spoken by Bertha)
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)

“But this is as a dream, — the plough has pass'd
Where the stag bounded, and the day has looked
On the green twilight of the forest-trees.
This Oak has no companion!”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

- - -
The Oak from The London Literary Gazette (19th April 1823) Fragments
The Improvisatrice (1824)

“The moon is darkened in the sky
As if grief 's shade were passing by;”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The London Literary Gazette, 1823

“And here at length is somewhat of revenge:
For man's most golden dreams of pride and power
Are vain as any woman-dreams of love;
Both end in weary brow and wither'd heart,
And the grave closes over those whose hopes
Have lain there long before.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Love’s Last Lesson
The Golden Violet (1827)

“Pride misers with enjoyment, when we have
Delight in things that are but of the mind:
But half humility when we partake
Pleasures that are half wants, the spirit pines
And struggles in its fetters, and disdains
The low base clay to which it is allied.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Erinna
The Golden Violet (1827)

“I believe that the grand secret of attraction is, that the details always turn on what is present to our fears, or gratifying to our vanity.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

No.13. The Legend of Montrose — ANNOT LYLE.
Literary Remains

“All beginnings are very troublesome things.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Traits and Trials of Early Life (1836)

“Why, the very element of poetry is faith—faith in the beautiful, the divine, and the true.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“Oh! never should a woman's words be more
Than sighs which have found utterance.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

(5th June 1825) Portraits I
The London Literary Gazette, 1825

“Methinks adieu
Is cold, when uttered with aught else but tears.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Canto I, XI
The Fate of Adelaide (1821)

“Alas! vows are his after sign!—
We prop the tree in its decline—
The ghosts that haunt a parting hour,
With all of grief, and nought of power;
A chain half sunder'd in the making,—
The plighted vow's already breaking.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Lost Pleiad
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)

“It is a curious fact, that the true has always been more opposed at the outset than the false; the circulation of the blood and vaccination nearly lost their discoverers credit and practice, while some vender of quack medicines makes a rapid fortune. This may perhaps be accounted for, simply, that the impostor addresses the multitude, while the scientific discoverer appeals to his brethren in knowledge, all of whom are inclined to deny, what, if admitted, must show, that a great part of their own research and acquirement has been in vain; still he who trades on human credulity will have a good stock on hand, especially when the lure held forth is that of gain.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Literary Remains

“How much
I loved the painter's glorious art, which forms
A world like, but more beautiful than this;
Just catching nature in her happiest mood!”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Erinna
The Golden Violet (1827)

“A man above thirty cannot enter into the wild visions of an enthusiastic girl.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The London Literary Gazette, 1821-1822

“She sleeps!—so sleeps the wretch beside the stake:
She sleeps!—how dreadful from such sleep to wake!”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Title poem, section V.
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)

“The city and the crowd unidealise love; and love, in the young warm heart of a girl, should be a dream apart from all commoner emotions — as sweet and as ethereal as the blush with which it is born and dies. Beauty gives its own gracefulness to love — there must be romance blended with the passion inspired by the very lovely face which the mirror reflected.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Other Gift Books

“But our bird knew not of the free blue air,
He had lived in his cage, and his home was there :
No flight had he in the green wood flown —
He pined not for freedom he never had known!
If he had lived amid leaf and bough
It had been cruel to fetter him now;
For I have seen a poor bird die,
And all for love of his native sky.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Dead Robin
Traits and Trials of Early Life (1836)

“I deeply swore
No lip should sigh where mine before
Had sealed its vow, no heart should rest
Upon the bosom mine had prest.
Life had no ill I would not brave
To claim him, even in the grave!”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Vow of the Peacock (1835)

“The history of credulity would be the most singular page in the great history of mankind. From those vast beliefs which have founded religions and empires, down to the inventions that garnish the last new murder, there has always been a tendency in the human mind to believe with as little expense of the reasoning faculty as possible.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Literary Remains

“But music is a mystery, and viewless
Even when present, and is less man's act,
And less within his order; for the hand
That can call forth the tones, yet cannot tell
Whither they go, or if they live or die,
When floated once beyond his feeble ear;”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Erinna
The Golden Violet (1827)

“Why should I love? flinging down pearl and gem
To those who scorn, at least care not for them:
Why should I hate? as blades in scabbards melt,
I have no power to make my hatred felt;”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Title poem
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)

“It is amazing how much our admiration takes its tone from the admiration of others; and when to that is added an obvious admiration of ourselves, the charm is irresistible.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“Tis well: the rack, the chain, the wheel,
Far better had'st thou proved;
Ev'n I could almost pity feel,
For thou art not beloved.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Revenge
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)

“Charles went towards the table, but he had no lady-like powers of filling four sheets with nothing, and the letter was soon sealed.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“In childhood, the impetus of conversation is curiosity. The child talks to ask questions. But one of its first lessons, as it advances, is that a question is an intrusion, and an answer a deceit.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“In moments of great anxiety there is a sort of natural superstition about the heart, which the reason rejects in cooler moments.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Traits and Trials of Early Life (1836)

“Midnight is a wonderful thing in a vast city—and midnight was upon Vienna. The shops were closed, the windows darkened, and the streets deserted—strange that where so much of life was gathered together there could be such deep repose; yet nothing equals the stillness of a great town at night. Perhaps it is the contrast afforded by memory that makes this appear yet more profound. In the lone valley, and in the green forest, there is quiet even at noon—quiet, at least, broken by sounds belonging alike to day and night. The singing of the bee and the bird, or the voice of the herdsman carolling some old song of the hills—these may be hushed; but there is still the rustle of the leaves, the wind murmuring in the long grass, and the low perpetual whisper of the pine. But in the town—the brick and mortar have no voices of their own. Nature is silent—her soft, sweet harmonies are hushed in the great human tumult—man, and man only, is heard. Through many hours of the twenty-four, the ocean of existence rolls on with a sound like thunder—a thousand voices speak at once. The wheels pass and re-pass over the stones—music, laughter, anger, the words of courtesy and of business, mingle together—the history of a day is the history of all time. The annals of life but repeat themselves.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“Once more my harp awakens; once again,
Tho' all unworthy be my hand to twine
Th' etherial blossomings of poetry,
I would call forth its numbers, yet would feel
Its music fall like sunlight on my soul.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Canto II, I
The Fate of Adelaide (1821)

“I have ever remarked, that when Fate has any great misfortune in store, it is always preceded by a brief period of calm and sunshine—as if to add bitterness of contrast to all other misery. It is for the happy to tremble—it is over their heads that the thunderbolt is about to burst.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Heath's book of Beauty, 1833 (1832)

“Well he knows his course has hasted
Through delicious sin,
Borne tumultuously along.
Never have the stars above
Chronicled such utter love.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“In sad truth, half our forebodings of our neighbours are but our own wishes, which we are ashamed to utter in any other form.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Heath's book of Beauty, 1833 (1832)

“A thousand songs from a thousand boughs
The glad birds' pleasure declare;
The rills are laughing in crystal light—
For the presence of Spring is there.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

(3rd March 1827) Birthday in Spring
The London Literary Gazette, 1827

“When will my soul forget the look
With which one single stem she took
From out the wreath?—a tulip flower;
But, touch'd as by some withering power,
The painted leaves were drooping round
The rich but burning heart they bound.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Golden Violet - The Wreath
The Golden Violet (1827)

“Beautiful wreck! for still thy face,
Though changed, is very fair;
Like beauty's moonlight, left to shew
Her morning sun was there.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Change from The London Literary Gazette (16th February 1828)
The Vow of the Peacock (1835)

“... Oh! the heart
Makes its own happiness, perchance the best,
When consecrate to one engrossing love!”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The London Literary Gazette, 1829

“But the dwellers in the country have little understanding of, and therefore little sympathy with, the longing for green fields which haunts the dweller in towns. The secret dream of almost every inhabitant in those dusky streets where even a fresh thought would scarcely seem to enter, is to realise an independence, and go and live in the country. Where is every holiday spent but in the country! What do the smoky geraniums, so carefully tended in many a narrow street and blind alley attest, but the inherent love of the country! To whom do the blooming and sheltered villas, which are a national feature in English landscape, belong, but to men who pass the greater part of their lives in small dim counting-houses! This love of nature is divinely given to keep alive, even in the most toiling and world-worn existence, something of the imaginative and the apart. It is a positive good quality; and one good quality has some direct, or indirect tendency to produce another.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“Maiden, fling from thy braided hair
The red rosebud that is wreathed there;
For he who planted the parent tree
Is now what soon that blossom will be.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Golden Violet - The Wreath
The Golden Violet (1827)

“Ah, Woman has no look so sweet
As that, when, half afraid to meet
The look she loves, blushes betray
All the suppressed glance would say.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

(15th March 1823) Poetical Catalogue of Pictures. Vandyke consulting his Mistress on a Picture in Cooke's Exhibition.
The London Literary Gazette, 1823

“There is a favourite in every family; and, generally speaking, that favourite is the most troublesome member in it.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Monthly Magazine

“Romantic Switzerland! thy scenes are traced
With characters of strange wild loveliness,
Beauty and desolation, side by side;
Here lofty rocks uprise, where nature seems
To dwell alone in silent majesty;
Rob'd by the snow, her stately palace fram'd
Of the white hills; towering in all their pride,
The frost's gigantic mounds are lost in clouds,
Like to vast castles rear'd in middle air.
The ice has sculptur'd too strange imagery—
Obelisks, columns, spires, fantastic piles;
Some like the polish'd marble, others clear
As the rock crystal, others sparkling with
The hues that melt along the sunborn bow.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Canto I, I opening lines
The Fate of Adelaide (1821)