“We twain have met like the ships upon the sea,
Who hold an hour’s converse, so short, so sweet;
One little hour! And then, away they speed
On lonely paths, through mist and cloud and foam,
To meet no more.”

—  Alexander Smith

Part iv.
A Life Drama and other Poems (1853)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We twain have met like the ships upon the sea, Who hold an hour’s converse, so short, so sweet; One little hour! And …" by Alexander Smith?
Alexander Smith photo
Alexander Smith 14
Scottish poet and essayist 1829–1867

Related quotes

Nguyễn Du photo

“Heaven grants us this hour: now from our gate
all mists have cleared; on high, clouds roll away.”

Nguyễn Du The Tale of Kieu

Source: The Tale of Kiều (1813), Lines 3121–3122; quoted by Joe Biden, while welcoming Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Washington (July 2015), as reported in "The Tale of Kieu, lotus and the US President" by Bui Hoang Tam, dtinews.vn (25 May 2016) http://dtinews.vn/en/news/027/45323/the-tale-of-kieu--lotus-and-the-us-president.html: "Thank heaven we are here today, to see the sun through parting fog and clouds."

Ryōkan photo

“The village has disappeared in the evening mist
And the path is hard to follow.
Walking through the pines,
I return to my lonely hut.”

Ryōkan (1758–1831) Japanese Buddhist monk

Zen Poetics of Ryokan (2006)

“I am one of four people in Johannesburg who drives at the speed limit and pays his fines. The city council has us on six-hour shifts, so it works out.”

Vittorio Leonardi (1977) South African stand-up comedian and actor

Quoted in Helen Herimbi, "Comedy shows are laughing off the recession," http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=356&fArticleId=4870371 Tonight (2009-03-03)

John Masefield photo

“I must down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.”

John Masefield (1878–1967) English poet and writer

The first line is often misquoted as "I must go down to the seas again." and this is the wording used in the song setting by John Ireland. I disagree with this last point. The poet himself was recorded reading this and he definitely says "seas". The first line should read, 'I must down ...' not, 'I must go down ...' The original version of 1902 reads 'I must down to the seas again'. In later versions, the author inserted the word 'go'.


Source: https://poemanalysis.com/sea-fever-john-masefield-poem-analysis/
Salt-Water Ballads (1902), "Sea-Fever"

Daniel McCallum photo

“When the time-table is so arranged as to call for speed nearly equal to the full capacity of the engine, it is very obvious that the risks of failure in making time, must be much greater than at reduced rates, and when they do occur, the efforts made to gain time must be correspondingly greater and uncertain. A train whose prescribed rate of speed is thirty miles per hour, having lost five minutes of time, and being required to gain it, in order to meet and pass an opposing train at a station ten miles distant, must necessarily increase its speed to forty miles an hour; and a train whose rate of speed is 40 miles per hour, under similar circumstances, must increase its speed to 60 miles per hour.”

Daniel McCallum (1815–1878) Canadian engineer and early organizational theorist

Source: Report of the Superintendent of the New York and Erie Railroad to the Stockholders (1856), p. 42; Cited in: Scientific American April 19, 1856. p. 254 ( online http://books.google.com/books?id=tuw8AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA254#v=onepage&q&f=false); and Vose (1857, p. 429)

Robert Penn Warren photo

“So little time we live in Time,
And we learn all so painfully,
That we may spare this hour's term
To practice for Eternity.”

Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) American poet, novelist, and literary critic

"Bearded Oaks", Eleven Poems on the Same Theme (1942)

George William Russell photo

“There were many burning hours on the heart-sweet tide,
And we passed away from ourselves, forgetting all
The immortal moods that faded, the god who died,
Hastening away to the King on a distant call.”

George William Russell (1867–1935) Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, and artistic painter

By Still Waters (1906)

William Beckford photo

“Eternal Power!
Grant me through obvious clouds one transient gleam
Of thy bright essence in my dying hour!”

William Beckford (1760–1844) English novelist

"A Prayer", line 14; cited from Cyrus Redding Memoirs of William Beckford of Fonthill (London: Charles J. Skeet, 1859) vol. 2, p. 283.

Margaret Fuller photo

“With equal sweetness the commissioned hours
Shed light and dew upon both weeds and flowers.”

Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) American feminist, poet, author, and activist

Life Without and Life Within (1859), The Thankful and the Thankless
Context: With equal sweetness the commissioned hours
Shed light and dew upon both weeds and flowers.
The weeds unthankful raise their vile heads high,
Flaunting back insult to the gracious sky;
While the dear flowers, wht fond humility,
Uplift the eyelids of a starry eye
In speechless homage, and, from grateful hearts,
Perfume that homage all around imparts.

Related topics