“We hear the wail of the remorseful winds
In their strange penance. And this wretched orb
Knows not the taste of rest; a maniac world,
Homeless and sobbing through the deep she goes.”
Unrest and Childhood.
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Alexander Smith 14
Scottish poet and essayist 1829–1867Related quotes
“A wail in the wind is all I hear;
A voice of woe for a lover's loss.”
Tears in Spring, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
A Dirge http://poetryarchive.bravepages.com/RSTU_poets/shelley_percy.b.htm#dirge (1821)
“Strange! that this general fraud from day to day
Should fill the world with wretches undetected.”
The Tragedy of Irene (1749), Act III, Sc. 2
Context: To-morrow's action! Can that hoary wisdom,
Borne down with years, still doat upon tomorrow!
That fatal mistress of the young, the lazy,
The coward, and the fool, condemn'd to lose
A useless life in waiting for to-morrow,
To gaze with longing eyes upon to-morrow,
Till interposing death destroys the prospect
Strange! that this general fraud from day to day
Should fill the world with wretches undetected.
The soldier, labouring through a winter's march,
Still sees to-morrow drest in robes of triumph;
Still to the lover's long-expecting arms
To-morrow brings the visionary bride.
But thou, too old to hear another cheat,
Learn, that the present hour alone is man's.
Part III: La Clé des Chants (p.115)
The Unquiet Grave (1944)
Source: Kulturphilosophie (1923), Vol. 1 : The Decay and the Restoration of Civilization, Ch. 1 How Philosophy is Responsible for the Collapse of Civilization
Context: The ethical ideas on which civilization rests have been wandering about the world, poverty-stricken and homeless. No theory of the universe has been advanced which can give them solid foundation; in fact not one has made its appearance which can claim for itself solidity and inner consistency. The age of philosophical dogmatism had come to an end, and after that nothing was recognized as truth except the science which described reality. Complete theories of the universe no longer appeared as fixed stars; they were regarded as resting on hypothesis, and ranked no higher than comets.
“The hushed winds wail with feeble moan
Like infant charity.”
Orra (1812), Act III, scene 1, "The Chough and Crow"; in Plays on the Passions, Volume III.
“As the world of chips and glass fibers and wireless waves goes, so goes the rest of the world.”
Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World (1995), New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World (1999)