“Souls of Poets dead and gone,
What Elysium have ye known,
Happy field or mossy cavern,
Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?”

“Poets lose half the praise they should have got,
Could it be known what they discreetly blot.”

“Ye will not pray; ye will not shun temptation; ye will not renounce known sin; ye will not fight against evil habits! Are ye stronger than God? Can ye contend with the Eternal One? Have ye the nerve which shall not tremble, and the flesh which shall not quiver, and the soul which shall not quail, when the sheet of fire is round the globe, and thousand times ten thousand angels line the sky, and call to judgment?”

“I am confident in the belief that there truly is such a thing as living again, and that the living spring from the dead, and that the souls of the dead are in existence, and that the good souls have a better portion than the evil.”

“More than all the thoughts and feelings I have written down. I don't pretend to be a poet. I feel happy enough when someone is willing to read what I have written.”

“Even when I'm dead, I'll swim through the Earth,
like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.”

“The soul that rides deep through our veins,
Our red rivers, and smiles.
This darling soul, as endearing
As dead poets and countries.
This restless soul that neighbors our hearts.
A perfect torch that guides our flames
To immortality.”

“Ye are better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said;
For ye are living poems,
And all the rest are dead.”

“Have you not sometimes seen happiness? Yes, the happiness of others.”

“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.”