Home / Quotes / Quote by Allen Tate

Quote by Allen Tate

“Antiquity breached mortality with myths. Narcissus is vocabulary. Hermes decorates A cornice on the Third National Bank.”

Quote by Allen Tate

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Work

Collected Poems, 1919-1976

This volume compiles a selection of poems written over a significant period, showcasing the author's work across various themes and styles. more

Author

Allen Tate, an American poet, was born on November 19, 1899, and passed away on February 9, 1979. He is renowned for his profound depiction of Southern culture and his unique contributions to modernism. more

You May Also Like

“Men expect too much, do too little, Put the contraption before the accomplishment, Lack skill of the interior mind To fashion dignity with shapes of air. Luxury, yes but not elegance!”

Men Mind Littles Too Much Air Fashion Human Nature Shapes Skills Dignity Luxury Accomplishment Interiors Elegance

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“In an age of abstract experience, fornication Is self-expression, adjunct to Christian euphoria, And whores become delinquents; delinquents, patients; Patients, wards of society. Whores, by that rule, Are precious.”

Self Age Christian Expression Patient Abstract Self Expression Euphoria Delinquents

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“Row after row with strict impunity The headstones yield their names to the element, The wind whirrs without recollection.”

Names Wind Elements Yield Strict Recollection Impunity Headstone

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“I have felt darkness lead me by the hand Over the hill to greet the singing dawn.”

Hands Felt Darkness Singing Hills Dawn Leading Me Over The Hill

Author:Allen Tate

“I thought I heard the dark pounding its head On a rock, crying: Who are the dead?”

Dark Darkness Heard Rocks Cry

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“Struck in the wet mire Four thousand leagues from the ninth buried city I thought of Troy, what we had built her for.”

Cities Four Thousand Built League Buried Wet

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“The dreary flies, lazy and casual, Stick to the ceiling, buzz along the wall. O heart, the spider shuffles from the mould Weaving, between the pinks and grapes, his pall.”

Heart Wall Sticks Lazy Insects Spiders Casual Ceilings Grapes Buzz Dreary Mould Weaving Shuffle

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“Let us lie down once more by the breathing side Of Ocean, where our live forefathers sleep As if the Known Sea still were a month wide-- Atlantis howls but is no longer steep!”

Ifs Stills Lying Sides Sleep Known Sea Months Ocean Wide Breathing Howl Forefathers Steep Atlantis

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“Therefore with idle hands and head I sit In late December before the fire's daze Punished by crimes of which I would be quit.”

Hands Would Be Fire Crime Late Guilt Quitting Christmas Idle December Daze Idle Hands

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976

“Ah, Christ, I love you rings to the wild sky And I must think a little of the past: When I was ten I told a stinking lie That got a black boy whipped.”

Thinking Littles Past Lying Black Christ Boys Sky Love You Ten Guilt Rings Christmas Black Boy

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976