"A Fable" (or "The Raven"), line 36.
“For some the wind can fleshly blow,
for some the sunlight fade at ease,
but we, made partners in our dread,
hear but the grating of the keys,
and heavy-booted soldiers' tread.
As if for early mass, we rose
and each day walked the wilderness,
trudging through silent street and square,
to congregate, less live than dead.”
Requiem; 1935-1940 (1963; 1987), Dedication
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Anna Akhmatova 99
Russian modernist poet 1889–1966Related quotes
Gather Leaves and Grasses, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Remarks at a meeting of Operation PUSH in Chicago (27 November 1993). Quoted in "Crime: New Frontier - Jesse Jackson Calls It Top Civil-Rights Issue" by Mary A. Johnson, 29 November 1993, Chicago Sun-Times (ellipsis in original). Partially quoted in "In America; A Sea Change On Crime" http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/12/opinion/in-america-a-sea-change-on-crime.html by Bob Herbert, 12 December 1993, New York Times.
1870s, The Unknown Loyal Dead (1871)
Letter to Admiral Henry Seymour, after coming upon part of the Spanish Armada, written aboard the Revenge (31 July 1588 {21 July 1588 O.S.})
Context: Coming up unto them, there has passed some cannon shot between some of our fleet and some of them, and so far as we perceive they are determined to sell their lives with blows. … This letter honorable good Lord, is sent in haste. The fleet of Spaniards is somewhat above a hundred sails, many great ships; but truly, I think not half of them men-of-war. Haste.