University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
Fables in Song

By Robert Lord Lytton
Lytton, Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton (1831-1891)

collapse sectionI. 
VOL. I.
  
INTRODUCTORY.
collapse sectionI. 
I. THE THISTLE.
  
MOTTO.
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 V. 
PART V.
 VI. 
PART VI.
 II. 
II. POSSESSION.
collapse sectionIII. 
III. WHO'S IN THE RIGHT?
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
PART I.
collapse sectionII. 
PART II.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
 6. 
6.
 7. 
7.
 IV. 
IV. PREMATURITY.
 V. 
V. ANCIENTS AND MODERNS.
 VI. 
VI. A PROVISION FOR LIFE.
  
To E. L.,
collapse sectionVII. 
VII. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS; OR, THE FAR.
collapse sectionI. 
PART I.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
collapse sectionIV. 
PART IV.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
collapse sectionVIII. 
VIII. A WHEAT-STALK; OR, THE NEAR.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
 VII. 
VII.
 IX. 
IX. THE ASS AND THE WAGTAIL.
 X. 
X. THE MISANTHROPE AND THE BIRD.
 XI. 
XI. FORTUNE AND HER FOLLOWERS.
 XII. 
XII. COMPOSURE.
 XIII. 
XIII. SIC ITUR.
 XIV. 
XIV. DIOGENES OR ALEXANDER?
 XV. 
XV. A LEGEND.
collapse sectionXVI. 
XVI. THE RAINPOOL.
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 XVII. 
XVII. CONTAGION.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. AURORA CLAIR.
collapse sectionXIX. 
XIX. LOST TREASURES.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 XX. 
XX. CHASSÉ-CROISÉ.
collapse sectionXXI. 
XXI. A PHILOSOPHER.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 XXII. 
XXII. ONLY A SHAVING.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. THE LAST CRUISE OF THE ARROGANT; OR NO COMPROMISE.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. KNOWLEDGE AND POWER.
collapse sectionXXV. 
XXV. OPINION.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. DE PROFUNDIS.
collapse sectionXXVII. 
XXVII. “GO ON, I'LL FOLLOW THEE!”
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
collapse sectionXXVIII. 
XXVIII. THE EAGLE AND HIS COMPANIONS;
  
MONOLOGUE.
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
[section]
collapse sectionII. 
VOL. II.
  
INTRODUCTORY.
collapse sectionXXIX. 
XXIX. FIAT JUSTITIA.
 1. 
CANTO THE FIRST.—THEORY.
 2. 
CANTO THE SECOND.—PRACTICE.
 3. 
CANTO THE THIRD.—EXPERIENCE.
 XXX. 
XXX. THE ROCK.
collapse sectionXXXI. 
XXXI. DEMOS.
 I. 
PART 1.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 XXXII. 
XXXII. A PROMETHEUS UNBOUND.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII. VALOUR.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. PAIN.
 XXXV. 
XXXV. QUESTIONABLE CONSOLATION.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI. FORGIVE AND FORGET.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. THE MOUNTAINS OF TIME.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. CONSERVATION OF FORCE.
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. HOMERIDES.
 XL. 
XL. POINTS DE VUE—POINT DE VUE.
 XLI. 
XLI. PYRRHONISM,
collapse sectionXLII. 
XLII. THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MARSH.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
 6. 
6.
 7. 
7.
 8. 
8.
 9. 
9.
 10. 
10.
 11. 
11.
 XLIII. 
XLIII. TELEOLOGY.
collapse sectionXLIV. 
XLIV. COGITO ERGO SUM.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
 6. 
6.
 XLV. 
XLV. PHILOSOPHY OF THE LITTLE.
collapse sectionXLVI. 
XLVI. MASTER AT HOME.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 XLVII. 
XLVII. THE PLANE AND THE PENKNIFE.
 XLVIII. 
XLVIII. THE DRAG AND THE WHEEL.
collapse sectionXLIX. 
XLIX. A HAUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE A FALL.
 I. 
PART I.
 III. 
PART II.
collapse sectionIII. 
PART III.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 L. 
L. THE ROSE AND THE BRAMBLE.
collapse sectionLI. 
LI. DUCUNT VOLENTEM FATA: NOLENTEM TRAHUNT.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5
 6. 
6.
 LII. 
LII. SUUM CUIQUE.
 LIII. 
LIII. THE TWO TRAVELLERS;
 LIV. 
LIV. AN ILL-ASSORTED COUPLE.
 LV. 
LV. BETWEEN HAMMER AND ANVIL.
 LVI. 
LVI. HOMO HOMINI LUPUS.
 LVII. 
LVII. THE HORSE AND THE FLY.
 LVIII. 
LVIII. ET CÆTERA ET CÆTERA.
 LIX. 
LIX. MONUMENTUM ÆRE PERENNIUS.
collapse sectionLX. 
LX. SANS SOUCI.
  
PROLOGUE
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 V. 
PART V.
 VI. 
PART VI.
 VII. 
PART VII.

collapse section Collapse All | Expand All expand section
previous section Fables in Song
next section
33

7.

“Stay, not so fast!”
Sighingly answer'd him the streaming Rain.
“Destroyer, what hast thou created? Cast
On thy brief work (death, devastation, pain)
One glare—thy last!
Show me thy greatness. Is it yonder plain
Where thou hast pass'd,
Leaving behind thee hideous heaps of slain
And ruin vast?
Lo, with my little drops, I bless again
And beautify the fields which thou didst blast!
Rend, wither, waste, and ruin, what thou wilt,
But call not Greatness what the gods call Guilt.
Blossoms and grass from blood in battle spilt,
And poppied corn, I bring.
'Mid mouldering Babels, to Oblivion built,
My violets spring.
Little by little, my small drops have strength
To deck with green delights the grateful earth:
Little by little, to large seas at length
Small springs give birth:
By little things the growing world grows great,
And of great doings rests but little done:
From little fibres in the loom of Fate
Time's robe is spun:
Small are the cymbals that, when clasht, proclaim
The march of Force: from shafts of tiny stature
34

Co-operant atoms build the crystal frame
Of mighty Nature.
By little ducts Thought's widening river runs
Thro' nerve and brain, yet fills the ages vast,
And even the secret of the central suns
Invades at last:
In little waves light leaps from star to star:
Small pencils paint the welkin's azure pall:
And small life's primal universes are,
Yet they are all.”
previous section Fables in Song
next section